Since the early days of my concentrated theological study and reflection I’ve been trying to feel my way through the different school’s of theological reflection. In the beginning I was still sort of constrained by this loose, generic evangelicalism with which I was extremely disillusioned. Thanks to some folks like Hauerwas and Barth and an early foray into Postructuralism through Derrida, DeSausure and Foucault I was un-tethered pretty early in the process. Once I became free of a school to... Read more

A few interesting quotes from Colossians Remixed: “Paul’s letter to the Colossians is fundamentally about shaping the imagination of the Christian community. Walter Brueggemann says that “the key pathology of our time, which seduces us all, is the reduction of the imagination so that we are too numbed, satiated and co-opted to do serious imaginative work.” If this is true, then the primal responsibility of Christian proclamation is to empower the community to reimagine the world as if Christ, and... Read more

I’m done with Fowl and I’m on to Colossians remixed by Bryan Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat right now. I read the first chapter last Saturday and it really blew me away, I’ve been dying to get back to it. Here are a few thoughts it spurred in me. I was once in my local Christian bookstore looking for a book called “Justice in the Burbs,” and no salesclerk could find it for me. Finally one clerk asked what publisher it... Read more

I’m still reading Fowl’s commentary on Philippians. I’m thinking today about the practice of pulling out verses to preach on or proof-texting. Usually how this works is a pastor decides what subject he/she wishes to teach on and then searches their concordance for passages or story which supports the point they wish to make. In this manner, pastors dictate to the scripture what should be taught. However, the lectionary model forces one to deal with the text on its own... Read more

Does the Father will the death of the Son? It’s a common question in the realm of atonement discussion. I’m doing a close reading of Fowl’s New Horizon’s Commentary on Philippians so that I can write a critical response. His response to this question is so good that I wanted to post it here. The use of Anselm’s own words in support of his point of view is genius, considering that Anselm’s Substitutionary atonement view has so come to dominate... Read more

I have long believed that a church should read as much scripture as possible out loud, together, during worship. I know this in my mind and heart to be right. However, as a worship leader and pastor I’ve been woefully deficient in bringing this conviction to fruition in our congregation. I first encountered the practice of the communal reading of scripture from my wife. While we were dating we would often attend Catholic Church together. As a devout evangelical, I... Read more

I watched “High Fidelity” with John Cusack the other day. One of the things I love about that movie is the ever-present top five list…Here are a few of mine from 2007. TOP 5 BOOKS I READ IN 20071. The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder2. The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann3. Compassion by Henri Nouwen4. Torture and Eucharist by William Cavanaugh5. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Leslie Newbigin TOP 5 ALBUMS I LISTENED TO IN 20071.... Read more

Dietrich Bonhoeffer I’m reading “Life Together” for the very first time. I’ve actually never read any Bonhoeffer before. I’m just going to list interesting quotes and comment on them as I read this slowly. One of the ideas which Bonhoeffer develops early on here is that Christian to not relate to each other directly, but only through Christ. Any relationship we have which is direct and not mediated through Christ will be a purely “psychic,” which he defines as human,... Read more

If you have SHOWTIME check out the upcoming documentary “Fall from Grace.” It’s a great film about Fred Phelps. I had the great fortune to produce a track for the film earlier this year. Satellite Soul played the music and our good friend and sometimes band-mate Janette Crawford sang the track – J. Hall mixed – it was really fun. Ryan Jones is a creative and insightful filmaker – it’s just a really good film. Read more

McDonald’s chocolate chip cookies are like crack. I cannot stop eating these stupid things. Our church office is under construction right now and so I’ve been without an office since the end of July. That’s three and a half months now that I’ve been sponging internet off places like Panera or McDonalds. For awhile Panera was winning out until they protected their network and made it impossible for me to send email from my Outlook. Now I’m stuck with McDonalds.... Read more