I want so badly to transcend the tribalism of the Rob Bell vs. Team Hell battle, but I have to say that I’m frustrated Francis Chan only gave himself three months to write Erasing Hell, his response book to Love Wins. I guess I should start by saying nice things about his book. I did appreciate the way that Chan was trying to be confessional and vulnerable and sympathetic (22, 163, other places). I also saw that he was trying... Read more
[This is a repost of an article I wrote for Ministry Matters on the two sides of God’s judgment and the way that Christ’s atonement converts us into loving God’s judgment.] Many have misinterpreted this year’s battle between Rob Bell and the neo-Reformed bloggers who have dogged him for the claims that Bell makes in his book Love Wins. It’s actually not a debate about whether or not hell exists; there’s a deeper question whose answer shapes how we understand... Read more
I have often struggled with the notion of imputed righteousness in reformed theology. It grates my soul to read preachers talk about how we deserve punishment, wrath, etc, since I cannot picture the God I think I know as an angry judge. I’ve also read so many books about how this conception of God was used to justify colonialism and slavery and gained currency as part of the myth that Europeans had a duty to save the heathen Africans and... Read more
I read a story on cnn.com this afternoon that really saddened me about a woman named Donna Fairchild who kill herself and her husband Bill this past January after her character was assassinated in the midst of a local political race in Mesquite, Nevada. The events that led to Fairchild’s death are paradigmatic of the breakdown of grace in an American society that at one time at least retained a semblance of Christian influence. (more…) Read more
Sermon preached 8/21/2011 at Burke UMC Text: Genesis 45:1-15 How long does it take for the past to become water under the bridge? How do we handle bumping into people from our past who did things that still bother us today? I’ve been thinking about this question lately as I’m preparing to go to my fifteenth high school reunion. There will be some people there who treated me poorly once upon a time. Now the great thing about high school... Read more
This Wednesday I went to the Lamb Center for our weekly Spanish Bible study. There were three Hispanic guys there at 10:15 but they had all left (fled?) by 10:30, so Maritza and I were going to say a prayer and go home, but then we saw a white lady (we’ll name her Grace for privacy reasons) in the chapel where the Spanish Bible study meets. Grace said that she wanted to practice her Spanish so she was hoping to... Read more
Psalm 119:89-96 Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. On your justice stand all things, for all things serve you. (more…) Read more
I was flipping through my journal for the past year and I found some quotes I had written down from Thomas Merton when I did a retreat at Richmond Hill this past February. They’re all taken from his book Love and Living. I had not realized how powerfully this book influenced my thoughts of the past 7 months. “Love is not a problem, not an answer to a question… It is the ground of all, and questions arise only insofar... Read more
Along with fellow bloggers Kurt Willems and Carson Clark, I have been contemplating my identity as an evangelical who is at odds with many other Christians that identify themselves as evangelical. I’m sure someone is snickering that this is the sort of thing that a privileged white Jesus nerd with too much time on his hands would pontificate about. Anyway, I’ve decided not to call the Christians I’ve been beefing with all my life evangelicals anymore. Since the word fundamentalist... Read more
Psalm 119:81-88 My soul languishes for your salvation; I hope in your word. My eyes fail longing for your word, saying, When will you comfort me? For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke; yet I do not forget your statutes. How many are the days of your servant? When will you judge my persecutors? The arrogant dug pits for me, which are not according to your Torah. (more…) Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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