There was a time in my life when I repeated the 'Sinner's Prayer' a lot. In my faith tradition, Hell is humankind's default destination. Like a pre-existing medical condition, everyone is born damned per the doctrine of Original Sin. And the only way to reroute your one-way ticket from eternal damnation to eternal paradise is to make a public…
In November 2004, Kevin Malarkey and his six-year-old son, Alex, were involved in a car accident on their drive home from church. While Kevin emerged from the collision unscathed, the force of the impact wrenched the six-year-old child's skull from his spinal column, resulting in what doctors refer to as an "internal decapitation." A helicopter…
Continue reading ➞ Beyond the Veil: Death, Heaven, and the Original Very Good News
The story of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood has long cast a spell on the public imagination. The Biblical account of Noah's Ark has inspired multiple archeological attempts to "recover" the wreckage of the ark across various mountaintops in the Middle East and a $100 million "biblically-accurate replica" that serves as a tourist attraction…
In an instant, millions of people around the world vanish into thin air. Planes plummet out of the sky. Vehicles, suddenly unmanned, careen out of control. The catastrophic event hurls the world into a state of chaos, anarchy, and panic. Is this the opening salvo of an alien invasion? A secret military experiment gone awry?…
Continue reading ➞ Revelation Decoded: The Secrets Behind the Most Misunderstood Book in the Bible
Without a doubt, Easter is a weird one. Not only does it arguably have the worst color palette of any national holiday, but the celebration's pagan roots are also so nakedly apparent it's almost shocking they aren't challenged more often by the people who perpetually claim there's a "War on Christmas." Our word "Easter" is…
Continue reading ➞ Why I (Still) Believe: A Skeptic’s Guide to the Resurrection of Jesus
A few weeks ago, an older acquaintance shared a post on Facebook that read, "God is not going to rewrite the Bible for your generation. His Word remains the same forever and always!" I understand the sentiment. I was raised in a "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it" culture of evangelical…
Continue reading ➞ Life in Technicolor: Gay Christians and the Bible
When I was ten years old, our church library ordered a book called Dinosaurs and The Bible. I couldn't have been more excited. Like most ten-year-olds, I was a huge dinosaur nerd. When I grew up, I wanted to be a paleontologist, and I could rattle off the Latin names for all my favorite dinosaurs.…
Continue reading ➞ At the Beginning of the World: Dinosaurs, Genesis, and the Gift of Science
Growing up, I never thought the story of the first Christmas was very interesting. Oh sure, it’s a nice story, but for a ten-year-old boy who couldn’t even begin to grasp the meaning of the word “Incarnation,” the Christmas story was the one with the cute baby surrounded by barnyard animals. But as I got older and…
Continue reading ➞ Revolution in the Manger: The Untold Story of the First Christmas
If you were compiling a "Greatest Hits" album of Jesus stories, the Parable of the Prodigal Son would definitely make the cut. During his three year ministry, Jesus told many parables, or short stories. Parables were a popular form of storytelling and preaching in Jesus's day. Most modern religious writing and teaching is meant to change…
Continue reading ➞ We Are Not the Prodigal: A Jesus Story Deconstructed
A long time ago, I used to believe God hated the world. I wouldn't have quite put it in those terms, but the God I heard about was God who was merely biding his time before "rapturing" all the "true Christians" and pouring out his wrath and judgment upon the Earth. For those who don't…
Continue reading ➞ At the End of the World: Leaving Behind the Rapture and the Cult of Apocalypse
Instrument of Mercy 