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
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
About a year ago, I was helping out at an event and one of the servers asked me if I was religious. Earlier in the night, it had come up that I write stuff about the Bible. She was gay, and I suspected she was posing a somewhat loaded question. "I don't think so," I…
Continue reading ➞ How to Talk About Jesus Without Being Weird (or a Jerk)
This blog post is a second half of a collection of seven “episodes” I wrote for Holy Week. (You can read Part 1 here). In reconstructing the final days of Jesus, I wanted to show how Jesus’s revolutionary message and life challenged the political, economic, and religious structures of his day – just like they…
Continue reading ➞ The Last Hours: The Revolutionary Final Moments of Jesus
This blog post is the first half of a collection of "episodes" I wrote for Holy Week. In reconstructing the final days of Jesus, I wanted to show how Jesus's revolutionary message and life challenged the political, economic, and religious structures of his day - just like they still do today. For those who don't…
Continue reading ➞ The Last Week: The Revolutionary Final Days of Jesus
In the narrative account of Jesus's life written by a physician named Luke, Jesus delivers the most famous story of roadside assistance ever recorded. According to the parable, a man is attacked by robbers and left for dead. His broken body is ignored by two religious men traveling the same road. He is eventually rescued and…
Continue reading ➞ We Are Not the Samaritan: A Jesus Story Deconstructed
It is, without a doubt, the most famous death in all of history. And yet, when some of us see the cross, we may see an archaic story wrapped around a barbaric torture device that has no bearing on our present reality. When others of us see the cross, you may literally see your shame.…
Continue reading ➞ The Story of the Cross We Rarely Talk About: A Fresh Perspective
On Monday, November 16, 2015 a number of states – all of them conservative “red states” – said they would no longer accept Syrian refugees. A short update on current events: The current Syrian civil war has killed more 220,000 people and displaced over 11 million people. More than 2,600 people have died at sea…
Continue reading ➞ The Christian, the Refugee, ISIS, and Fear
Instrument of Mercy 