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
Evangelicals have been deceived but do they know that? For many years I wondered why conservative evangelicals call themselves pro-life when many of them don’t seem to really care about the sanctity of life. I mean they might care for an unborn child, but they certainly don’t extend that same passion towards caring for the mother or the type of “life” the child will have once they are born. The voting habits of conservative evangelicals are illuminating – and... Read more
You would be correct if you argued that there is a large number of things that divide evangelicals and progressives. From disagreements on social action to theology, it seems as if the list would be too long to try and cover all of the issues. However, after much thought and even more conversations with conservative evangelicals, I have narrowed these disagreements down to two ideas that seem to be the foundation for these theological disagreements. My goal is not... Read more
Recently I had the chance to review the book Out Into The Desert by Karl and Laura Forehand. Out Into The Desert is a testimony of the struggles that accompany being an evangelical pastor in a time when evangelicalism is largely out of touch with the social issues of the day. The Forehands attempt to break through the stereotypes of the congregations they served only to find uninformed blank stares. Out Into The Desert is a pastoral journey of... Read more
I always seem to get more emotional when the advent season rolls around. Part of it is the whole spectacle of Christmas with kids opening gifts, the music, and various festivities. The other part has to do with my devotion and belief in Jesus of Nazareth and the celebration of the incarnation. No matter how much I have deconstructed over the years my belief in Jesus has never wavered. It’s not because I have some stubborn belief that I am... Read more
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with purity culture expert Linda Kay Klein about her bestselling book “Pure”. Pure is important for several reasons, perhaps the most important one is that it helps to chronicle the various types of abuse that women experienced growing up in purity culture. However, as Linda points out in our interview purity culture continues to thrive in the Church. What Linda’s book does is help provide a warning for women... Read more
Is the reality we exist in right now a dream? This is the question that distinguished professor J.J. Valberg wrestles with in his book: Dream, Death, and the Self. Although I disagree with several aspects of this book, I found this book an intellectual treat. A rare beautifully written book of philosophy. The fact that I disagree with much of the book is moot as long as the book alters my perspective in some way. Then, the book has... Read more
Greetings Readers, The article I originally published was based on information received by the Religion News Services, which is typically a reliable trustworthy resource for information. However, in this case, it was not. Let me clarify the situation now. Yes, a committee was indeed put together in order to create a restoration process for Mr. Johnny Hunt who in 2010 assaulted another pastor’s wife. When initially confronted with the allegation Hunt denied it. When evidence turned up that proved that... Read more
Recently a student, Joshua Heath, a Cambridge University fellow, preached a sermon that has Cambridge students as well as conservative evangelicals and their associates up in arms. Perhaps making the sermon even more controversial was the fact that the dean, Dr. Michael Banner, has come out in support of the student. Heath was quoted as saying: “In Christ’s simultaneously masculine and feminine body in these works, if the body of Christ as these works suggest the body of all... Read more
I have spent a lot of time in formal and informal ministry. I have been a youth pastor, have worked for various ministries, lead various ministries, and have been a consultant on discipleship for many years. The reason I have dedicated so much of my life to discipleship is that I believe it should be the primary function of every church around the world. Instead, in many churches discipleship has been relegated to a simple “program” indistinguishable from any other... Read more
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