Recently Saddleback Church was expelled from the SBC for employing a woman pastor within their ranks. The man himself, Rick Warren even came out of retirement to attend the SBC conference in order to debate the Pharisee’s leaders of the SBC about their archaic practices. It’s not entirely clear if Warren thought he would actually change their mind or if he just wanted the last word on the matter. Regardless, he did his best trying to make the case. Saddleback... Read more
It has been said that God has been punishing America because of its turn towards atheistic secularism. Throughout its history, this nation has been blessed by divine favor. However, since WWII, there has been a concerted effort by the evil one to convert the American people. It all began with Darwin’s influence in the public school systems, undermining the beauty of God’s creation story. As the old saying goes, you might have evolved from a monkey, but I was... Read more
In the realm of progressive thinking, issues with evangelicalism often stem from questions of authority and interpretation. That is, to what extent does the Bible speak for God and how do we as humans interpret such a book? Unfortunately, there is very little in terms of hermeneutics when it comes to progressive thinking. Part of the reason for this is that progressives are often suspicious of methods that constrain the reader in their interpretation. In my book UNenlightenment I propose... Read more
This evening (Sunday), I was driving around and could not help but notice blue lives matter flags hanging proudly next to the American flag. Whenever I see a blue lives matter slogan somewhere, it makes me cringe. I might even make a facial expression. With that said, I am, for lack of a better term, pro-police. But this is probably only because I am white. If I had darker skin, it might be a different story. 15 years ago,... Read more
First and foremost the church needs no help from me in destroying itself. It is perfecting that activity very much on its own. I was once confronted by an evangelical friend of mine as to why I write so much against other Christians. They argued that in doing so it does nothing but hurt the church’s reputation and dissuades those who are not Christian from ever becoming one. (It is important to note that despite our many theological disagreements,... Read more
If you have ever read the Gospel Coalition Blog you will be familiar with a writer by the name of Trevin Wax. I do not know this writer personally, I only know what I have read of his writing over the last several years. To put it mildly, I am not a fan of his. I think he is an exceptional writer, and I am sure he is a stellar person, but much of his advice revolves around issues... Read more
So much has been written about the process of deconstruction including reconstruction. However, what has not been written on a lot is what to do after this process. Oftentimes the deconstruction process leads you out of the Church. Or, perhaps, it is the reason you left the church. In either case, I want to make the case in this article that people need to return to Church after they go through this process. Christian Vagabond’s Many within progressive Christianity... Read more
In the late 90s, you would be hard-pressed not to find posters of bands like Audio Adrenaline, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and Jennifer Knapp in youth group meeting rooms around the country. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with former Contemporary Christian Music Artist and Grammy-nominated Jennifer Knapp on the latest episode of the UNenlightenment podcast. If you are unfamiliar with Jennifer Knapp, she burst onto the Contemporary Christian Music scene in the late 90’s with her unique... Read more
People who know me will probably be shocked by the fact that I believe in Penal Substitutionary Atonement. After all, over the years I have gone to great lengths to prove that it is an incorrect theory. My primary motivation for doing so was because it has been a doctrine of propaganda within evangelicalism for years. However, as a good philosopher, that reason alone cannot be why someone rejects any theory. After all, the abuse of good ideas happens all... Read more
Last week the Southern Baptist Convention disfellowshipped (dismissed) Saddleback Church in Lake Forest California. The dismissal had been in the works for most of the year. In fact, over the course of the last year, the convention has been very active in dismissing churches for various reasons. To wrap your head around all of the activities the Southern Baptist Convention has been doing, I have compiled 5 takeaways. 1. The Southern Baptist Convention is taking 1 step forward and... Read more
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