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The beauty of catholicity
As a protestant, the word “catholic” is not the first word I’d use to describe myself. Indeed, for many of us who do consider ourselves to be fairly conservative protestants, holders of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone (with some measure of asterisks around the word “alone”), the very word “catholic” might…
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The Gospel Is not Everything
The gospel is not everything. By this I mean to say that the gospel isn’t necessarily this message of the holiness of God and sin (and indeed it is not). It is not the message of heaven (though that may be a result). The gospel is much more focused than that. Pure and simple, the…
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Hillsong and Evangelical Inconsistency
Hillsong is amazingly popular in Evangelical circles which have a focus on contemporary music and sometimes a sort of concert like air about worship services. However, Hillsong itself reveals a sort of inconsistency in how Christians view church and ethics within Evangelical thought. This is perhaps best highlighted by a recent news article from the…
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Remembering 9/11 and the Church
I am American and I am just old enough to have remembered the events surrounding 9/11 (which are now closer to the fall of the Soviet Union than today) and the world I live in has been shaped by this pivotal moment, even if I may not be one of the many who have lost…
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Longing for the Justice of God
How long, O Lord? Wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? —Psalm 13.1-2 (RSV) I don’t think I’ve really understood…
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I don’t want to be Christian
The more I understand Christianity and Christ the more that I don’t want to be Christian, and yet the more I can’t help myself from being so. Christianity is about grace, it is about how a God who is love has provided a means for a wayward people to come back to himself in the…
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God Became Man so that We Might Be Made God
The Son of God was made man so that we might be made God Athanasius, On the Incarnation §54 When I first heard this astounding quote I was repulsed and revolted by the idea that man might become God. Christianity is, after all, not polytheistic. We are at our core monotheistic and the very idea…
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Faith and Obedience
Recently I have been reading Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship where Bonhoeffer talks about the nature and meaning of true Christian discipleship—the purpose of Christianity. Reading it, I was most struck by how Bonhoeffer frames the relationship between works and faith. only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes. Thinking more about…
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Let’s stop calling the ESV a literal translation
The Bible is the most important text in Christianity and people grow attached to whatever version they do use. I most often use the ESV Bible (though not really on this blog which tends towards NRSV) because it is the Bible I find at once most accessible, somewhat familiar, and used by those around me.…
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Race and the Gospel
In this last month, a formerly quiet community has taken the headlines after the shooting of Michael Brown. While the largest of racial unrests in America in years has largely died down to normal protesting, I still would like to explore a bit about how I think Ferguson relates to the gospel for us as…
Defined Faith
dominus pascit me — the Lord is my Shepherd
Defined Faith 