It used to be that the sheep got lost and Jesus sought after the sheep, even leaving the ninety-nine to do so. Now we keep losing Jesus. What are we willing to leave behind to search for him and find him? I love historical Jesus studies. I love theological conversations around Jesus. I’ve been thinking a lot about the centrality of Christ lately. Is it possible that all other religions can legitimately continue without their founders, while Christianity in substance... Read more
It’s one thing to experience tragedy. It’s another to have it followed by a sermon. Why is everyone so smart? Why are there so many answers to such a deep, unspeakable mystery? It didn’t take long for John Piper to tweet his answer: “Your sons and daughters were eating and a great wind struck the house, and it fell upon them, and they are dead (Job 1:19)” Or for Westboro Baptist Church’s Fred Phelps, Jr. to tweet his: “OK Thunder’s... Read more
Yes, the title recalls Tony Jones’ post, “I’m Tired of Being Called a Racist”. I think this post brought something to light that needed to be. We are being called on our blindspots. That’s a good thing. Just because you’re hot in one area doesn’t mean you’re not cold in another. I’m entangled in systemic racism and so, almost without being able to help it, I am involved in racism. That I must humbly admit. Read this excellent analysis by... Read more
The best theologians say that we can only know as much about God as God reveals. There are all kinds of human designations for God. They are all our words attempting to describe a thing. And we all know that the word is not the thing. Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot about clichés because when I scroll through Facebook I get overwhelmed with how many are posted there and how many likes they get. The thing about a cliché is that it is born out of someone’s experience and wisdom. They are words that emerged out of the crucible of suffering, temptation, testing, sacrifice, love, patience, lots of hard work and insight. So I’m going to use the Top 10 Spiritual Clichés. Let’s start with this... Read more
I wrote a post last week about learning a lesson on theological conversation from Tony Jones. Seriously, that incident got me thinking. Theology is important to me. I love it. I enjoy it. I am on a mission to understand the truth. I have a suspicion that there is a unifying theory that would be the key to understanding it all. I also concede that I could be wrong about this. But this is the theory that motivates me in... Read more
There have been many times in my church career when opening my big mouth has led to my departure. The first time I was naive and challenged something thinking that someone would care. The next time I was less naive but still nervous that I wouldn’t be heard. The next time after that I absolutely knew that opening my mouth about an issue would lead to my dismissal. It had even been suggested to me that I should run all... Read more
It is a matter of perspective. All or nothing. Tomorrow on The Lasting Supper we are having a Potluck hangout, a video conference, called “Hypo-Allergenic Spiritual Practices for the Religiously Fed-Up”. That is, we are going to talk about how to proceed with our spirituality independently after we’ve become burned out and our old ways have lost their meaning. The above cartoon is the kind of things we talk about. I invite you to join us. Read more
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