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
Fundamentalism wasn't pressed upon me as a child. No, I chose it for myself. While I did grow up in a Christian household, my dogmatic approach to faith was more a result of a well-intentioned - but misguided - attempt to be recognized as the smartest person in the room. I also loved to read.…
Continue reading ➞ A Love Letter (and Warning) to Progressive Christianity
Only two out of ten millennials believe Church attendance is important or worthwhile. According to a Barna research study, the top three reasons people chose to no longer attend church are: They find God elsewhere (39%) It's not relevant to my life (35%) It's boring (31%) We are a generation born into of world of…
We need to start listening. Too often, we dismiss those leaving the Church as outliers, or unfaithful prodigals. We rarely take the time to listen to their grievances, or if we do we simply chalk up their exodus to moral failure, lackluster devotion, or compromised allegiance. But maybe some of it is our fault. Maybe…
Continue reading ➞ The Lost Voices: Stories from the DeChurched
The first time I heard about Christian nonviolence, I thought it was ridiculous. My struggle with Christian nonviolence was a result of the multitude of questions the stance generates. I gradually came to learn that these questions were normal. It's what happens when you're entire paradigm shifts on such a comprehensive issue. I grew up…
Continue reading ➞ Christians and Violence: Seven Tough Questions and Responses
During Super Bowl XLVII, the Coca-Cola Company set the internet on fire. The one-minute ad titled "It's Beautiful" aired during the pregame commercial break, and by the end of the night, public response to the ad quickly outpaced interest in the game itself (a 43 - 8 blowout win for the Seattle Seahawks against the…
Continue reading ➞ Scandalous Grace in an Era of Moral Outrage and White Supremacists
Trigger Warning: The following article contains graphic sexual content and intense depictions of sexual abuse. Reader discretion is strongly advised. However, none of the hyperlinked text links out to pornographic websites. In January 2017, PornHub - one of the largest online porn sites - released its annual Year In Review statistics. In 2016, PornHub used…
Continue reading ➞ Skin in the Game: The Feminist Case Against Pornography
Our stuff is killing us. The average American home includes more than 300,000 individual items. Our closets average 103 individual items per person, even though we only wear twenty percent of our wardrobe with regularity. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Americans collectively spend more than $1.2 trillion on nonessential goods. The…
Continue reading ➞ Less Is More: Reclaiming Christian Simplicity from the American Dream
It's been a year since I've become one flesh with my wife. We married in a muggy parlor room in a historic home surrounded by friends and family after our wedding venue was flooded by a torrential downpour the day before our wedding. "And the two became one flesh" is one of the Bible's favorite…
Continue reading ➞ Thoughts on Sex, Vulnerability, and Spirituality After a Year of Marriage
Instrument of Mercy 