Open Letter to Wheaton Faculty

Last updated on: February 8, 2016 at 7:27 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Over the past couple of months the eyes of the world have been trained on Wheaton during its time of crisis. Again and again I have been astounded at your bravery. Whenever a faculty member is being dogged by the administration the power differentials show themselves in sharpest hues. But this has not stopped you from standing by your colleague. Both as individuals and through the faculty diversity committee you have shone a light on the dynamics that racism... Read more

Wheaton Parts Ways with Hawkins

Last updated on: February 6, 2016 at 9:38 pm By J. R. Daniel Kirk

Wheaton Saturday! Saturday the world was given quite the treat out of Wheaton College. (Backstory: in December Wheaton placed a professor on administrative leave for a combination of “inflammatory” statements and actions, including wearing a headscarf and saying that Christians and Muslims both worship the same God.) First, the world got to see the brave faculty of Wheaton standing with their mistreated colleague: Wheaton College faculty support Larycia Hawkins. And I do mean brave. When the administration has placed someone... Read more

Rubio, Sanders, Jesus, Bible

Last updated on: February 5, 2016 at 6:38 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

Shared Faith A few weeks ago Marco Rubio was confronted at a campaign gathering by an atheist. “What about me?” he asked. With all the sucking up that politicians are doing to garner the evangelical vote, what are atheists and agnostics to make of their place in a society under such a leader. Rubio gave a strong answer, especially in the last 40 seconds of this clip: There he says, “I think you should hope my faith influences me. You... Read more

Transfiguration

Last updated on: February 3, 2016 at 11:15 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

The Lord bless you and keep you The Lord make His face to shine upon you And be gracious unto you The Lord lift up His face to you And give you peace (Numbers 6:25-26) With those words the sons of Aaron were to bless Israel. The blessing evokes the experience of Moses. Moses went up the mountain and into the presence of God. When he came back his face was shining because God’s face had shown on him. Later... Read more

God Is Not on Cruz Control

Last updated on: February 2, 2016 at 8:56 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

Blogsphere confessional: despite my thick skin when it comes to what some might consider infringing on the holiness of God, I turned off my T.V. last night. I was terrified by the blasphemy that was reaching my daughter’s ears. Perhaps the only thing more incongruous to the identity of God than a pro athlete giving all the credit to God for a victory is a politician affixing God’s divine providence to a political victory. “To God be the glory,” proclaimed Cruz. A... Read more

Embracing the Gentiles

Last updated on: January 30, 2016 at 11:12 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

This is the first in an occasional series of encore presentations of some of the most significant posts from my old blog page. What follows is a post from October in which I articulated the way forward I had found for fully accepting LGBTQ people in the church. ***** Those of you who have been reading my blog for any time at all know that I have been on a journey with the question of how to love our gay neighbors as ourselves. If you’ve... Read more

Prayers for Trump

Last updated on: January 29, 2016 at 11:31 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

A few weeks ago at our house church gathering my daughter spontaneously prayed during a time of open prayer. The subject of her prayer was the candidacy of Donald Trump. If you want to hear what she said, you’re going to have to listen to the most recent episode of LectioCast! This week Cindy Wang Brandt is back, and she kicks off an outstanding conversation about who it is that God can use, all inspired by her recent work, “Raising... Read more

Progressive Evangelicalism Isn’t Old Liberalism

Last updated on: January 28, 2016 at 10:18 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

In response to my Progressive Evangelical post, a few folks were trying to figure out how to pin this down using categories ready to hand. A couple of those attempts boiled down to this: “Progressive evangelicalism? Sounds more like old liberalism.” SPOILER ALERT: progressive evangelicalism and old liberalism have nothing to do with each other. Universality and Particularity When liberalism began its ascent in the nineteenth century, it was assumed that there was a universal core to Jesus’ teaching. Jesus was supposed to... Read more

Be Afraid of Certainty

Last updated on: January 27, 2016 at 6:12 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

The Gift of Change

Last updated on: January 26, 2016 at 9:21 am By J. R. Daniel Kirk

Change is terrifying. It is unsettling. It is anxiety inducing. But we can handle all that. The real challenge for us to overcome is this: we too often operate with the idea that change is a sign of weakness and failure. In fact, however, change can often be a sign of strength and, even, love. The Danger of Love C. S. Lewis issued this warning to all who seek comfort and security and stability above all else: The only place outside... Read more