In 2004, many political analysts concluded that the threat of gay marriage was the hot-button issue that gave George W. Bush a second term in the White House. A recent article reports that transphobic bathroom laws are the latest strategy by the religious right to galvanize their base for the elections. The North Carolina Republican Party is making it clear that their infamous new law has been an election year gambit to pull a Willie Horton on NC attorney general and governor... Read more
Edwin Tait is one of my most thoughtful internet conversation partners. We disagree on some things and agree on others, probably agreeing more than disagreeing. He really enjoyed my book How Jesus Saves the World From Us and he had some honest critiques that I wanted to engage and take seriously. You can check out Edwin’s two part review of the book here and here. I. Sacrifice is only bad when it’s transactional One of Edwin’s first critiques is that I’m not... Read more
One of the most poignant ironies of the great spiritual battle of the 20th century between godless communism and “God-fearing” capitalism was a decision made by Congress in 1956 to engrave the phrase “In God we trust” on all US currency. I’m not sure that there’s ever been a more perfect textbook violation of the third commandment not to use God’s name in vain. The money on which you write “In God we trust” is the God in which you... Read more
I was handed a tract last night on Tulane’s campus that gave me the answer to “man’s most asked question: how can I get to heaven?” The woman who accosted me with the tract was very aggressive. I told her I was a pastor. I tried to be polite. She seemed a little bit unsure of whether I was really a Christian when I said I was United Methodist. She was sincere and friendly enough. I’ve been trying really hard to... Read more
I’m addicted to achievement. The dopamine in my brain rises and falls every day in accordance with a set of numbers that determine whether I’m winning: the attendance at events I organize, my blog stats, and now, my book sales. I figured I would start there instead of saying something like achievement is the most toxic idol of the white middle class. I suspect that’s a true statement, but I’ve got an axe to grind when I say it. I... Read more
When I was a Southern Baptist, we used to believe that Methodists didn’t read the Bible at all. What may be shocking to some evangelicals is to discover that even progressive, LGBT-affirming Methodists actually read the Bible and develop most of our ideas through years of rumination on particular scriptures. There were way more than 12 scriptures that influenced my book How Jesus Saves the World From Us. But these 12 verses seem to link up the best with the... Read more
Using social media to promote my book makes me hate everything. It’s like standing in crowded room with a megaphone shouting at the top of your lungs only to realize that you’re inside an invisible soundproof box. I’m so grateful to those of you who have been willing to support me by sharing and tweeting about the book. I’m so grateful to those of you who have supported my thunderclap social media blast (there’s still time!). I really believe that... Read more
I’ve been having the usual never-ending social media conversation about sexuality, so I thought it might be a good time to revisit 1 Corinthians 7. This is the one place in the New Testament where direct instructions about sex are given and the reasoning behind these instructions is laid out explicitly (unlike, for example, Romans 1 where some form of “unnatural” sex is mentioned in passing, and 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1 which reference obscure, inconclusively translated Greek words... Read more
I was a hypocrite this weekend and thankfully no one called me out. There was a twitter storm built around the hashtag #ResistCapitalism. So I thought it would be a good idea to crank out some tweets that fit the theme and put the link to the Amazon page where I’m selling my book. Until I was convicted. It’s a bit ridiculous to resist capitalism by selling books, but then again so is trying to get a hashtag to trend on... Read more
Today’s lectionary scripture includes Acts 9, the story of Saul’s conversion into the apostle Paul. Many Christians view this story as a paradigmatic representation of what Christian salvation looks like. But we don’t seem to pay much attention to the details of the story. Saul’s conversion story is the basis for the basic premise of my book How Jesus Saves the World From Us — that Christian salvation is more about Jesus saving the world from us than saving us from... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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