Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.—Matthew 4:1 I can’t imagine the silence of the desert. In fact, I can’t really imagine silence at all. Let me tell you about my typical day: I wake in the morning and scroll through my phone while I chat with my wife. As she gets ready for work, I’ll turn the news on and keep staring at my phone. When she leaves, I will... Read more
I’m tired to death of self-help, formulaic Christianity. For the last 25 years, I have sat through sermons and conferences, and read books and articles that imply a cause and effect relationship between Christian expectations and my personal happiness and fulfillment. We’ve been force-fed Christian steps to better health, more successful businesses, stronger interpersonal relationships, and unlimited joy. And even though these steps never exactly deliver, we keep showing up to receive more. But when I stop and think about John the... Read more
The second chapter of Matthew demonstrates a powerful lesson that we’ve never bothered to learn. This instruction’s delivered using a tale of some well-intentioned protagonists caught in the web of a deceitful and monstrous villainy. The story opens upon our heroes: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have... Read more
Matthew gets a lot of love for his inclusion of women into Jesus’ genealogy (Matt. 1:1–17), and rightly so. It’s a big thumb in the eye of a strongly patriarchal culture where women were chattel. With this in mind, however, I find the omission of a lot of Mary’s story surprising. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the... Read more
I committed to write my way through Matthew. But honestly, nothing dampens your enthusiasm like having to start with a genealogy. I’m not ashamed to say that I tend to scan them if I bother reading them at all. I mean, come on. I don’t even know the name of the people three generations back in my own family tree. Our culture doesn’t really care where we came from . . . or where we’re going. So despite the fact that I know that all Scripture... Read more
It’s crazy that I need to ask you this question, but for the sake of all involved, does everyone at your church know what to do if a shooter shows up? I know that there are a lot of opinions, on both sides of the gun issue, but your leadership needs to have this critical discussion. After the church shooting in South Carolina, I remember a pastor saying that if everyone were packing this wouldn’t have happened. And even though many combat... Read more
My furry friend Chuck who recently started a new blog, Hippie Heretic, invited other bloggers to blog through the gospel with him—and I immediately said I would. After a day passed, I began to think of millions of reasons why it was probably a bad idea. 1. Talking Scripture with Christians can a pain When it comes to talking about specific Scripture, Christians often speak rather than listen. I’m not even talking about their need to contradict or police your views.... Read more
I can’t believe this post needs to be written, but it does. Too many Christians seem to feel a freedom to treat atheists (or others with whom they disagree) with condescension. It’s couched in “truth in love” language, of course, but it only serves to reinforce negativity. So I’m going to reveal the age-old mystery on how to befriend an atheist (bonus: this advice will help build relationships with anyone): 1. Quit trying to save them If you’re thinking about befriending an atheist... Read more
If you blog because you want to build a platform based on your unique voice and perspective, I have some blogging advice for you: It’s time to start thinking about how the internet (particularly Google) deals with your content. What do you do when someone wants to republish your content on their site? Is it a good idea? Bad idea? A flattering offer It’s exciting when you start getting enough traction that organizations want to share your content. Keep in mind that generally... Read more
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” With this casual question, Cain shrugs off responsibility for the brother he’s killed (Gen. 4:8–9). He believed the answer to this rhetorical question was, “no” — the rest of the Scripture tries to convince us otherwise. It’s an important question for Christians in the West to consider because we talk like we side with Scripture, but make nonchalant decisions like Cain. The high cost of frugality Western culture exists at the end of the supply chain. For instance, 90 percent of... Read more
Honest to God
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