As I’ve shared before, I’ve spent most of my life suffering from this idea that God hates me. Even when I say otherwise, or start
As Jesus followers in post-modern America, we have a big task on our hands. The great reformation happening currently within American Christianity has created a
I don’t know about you, but I want to live out a Christianity that’s worth living. I want to help contribute to a reformation of American Christian culture and build a new culture where Christian friendships say, “Oh, you disagree on that theological issue? Fine by me as long as we’re still playing tennis together on Saturday.”
Kristen Powers and Jonathan Merritt had a great article the other day pointing out the hypocritical nature of these new “religious freedom” laws that are
What are the things in your life that are sucking the life out of you? What are the things that are draining and leaving you
Two of the craziest, and sickest stories I’ve seen in a while wrap out our week here on the blog: Both of these stories serve
Sometimes life seems like a never ending cycle of hurts. Trust me, I actually get that. People we love wound us. People we trust betray
The message of Jesus is radical: the key to “life” isn’t through saving your life, but through giving it away. To enter into his Kingdom and the radical life he promises, we must rid ourselves of the two things that get in the way: a love affair with ourselves and with our possessions. Here are 5 practices to change your life:
Is the phenomenon of rich American pastors a sign of God’s blessing? In this post about my work in India and the association between American Christianity and wealth, I ask some hard questions about what it means to actually follow Jesus.
We all go through shifts in our faith, and sometimes they’re radical shifts. It can be hard to survive these seasons of transition with our faith intact if we’re not careful. As per the request of readership, here are my 5 key pieces of advice on how you can survive a Christian paradigm shift.
We only have Jesus because someone decided to show love and mercy towards an illegal immigrant.
Today I take great comfort that Jesus came not for the people with their feet planted firmly on the shore, but for people like me who are often set adrift in the vast oceans of life– and who have no island of their own to drift towards.
When the people of Jesus reclaim the immigration discussion, we discover that immigrants should be able to move to any culture in the world and know that when they arrive, they’ll find guaranteed allies in the Christian community… I don’t know how things could get much clearer: if we’re not radically caring for, feeding and clothing immigrants, Jesus says we’re not really on God’s side at all.
Interesting fact: if you believe that Genesis is to be interpreted as literal, historical fact, you must also believe in evolution. Here’s why:
Pat did it again– he said something that was both reasonable and true all at the same time. In his final analysis of the Ken
Even atheists have fundamentalists who desire to antagonize, not dialogue. My question is: why do we keep feeding the system that makes us enemies?
Too often we’re sent the message that we’re most doing the work of God when we proclaim God– but I believe we’re also doing the work of God when we seek to restore broken and unjust social systems that keep us from experiencing the truth that we’re all the same.
Now is the time to begin teaching people that following Jesus means we must oppose the death penalty. Here are 5 reasons why:
America’s justice system is broken, but why? The ultimate reason can be traced back to the influences of the penal substitution theory of the atonement which focuses on punishment, not restoration. To fix America’s broken justice system, we must recover a better understanding of the justice of the cross.
The great, vast landscape of American Christianity is in the process of changing– something that should bring us great encouragement. Christianity has always gone through
When your church experience has you wounded and depleted, sometimes the good and right thing to do, is to take a break from church. Missionaries take breaks, pastors take breaks– and so should weary church-goers.
What I’m about to tell you is the most personal, sacred story that I’ve ever told. I never imagined telling it publicly in front of
It’s easy to get lost in the debate over the interpretation of Genesis 1, so a good starting point in this general discussion is to realize that some of the Old Testament stories don’t have to be true in order to still be true.
On February 4th, the Creation Museum will host a sold-out debate that’s generating a lot of buzz in the blogosphere. The debate will feature Bill
I grew up on old school church music– we sang hymns, and nothing else for most of my childhood. I remember in high school some
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BLC is an author, speaker, scholar, and global traveler, who holds graduate degrees in Theology & Intercultural Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and received his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller. He is the author of Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus, and Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith.
BLC
BLC is a cultural anthropologist, public theologian, writer, speaker, global traveler, and tattoo collector. He is a two-time graduate of Gordon-Conwell with graduate degrees in Theology & Intercultural Studies, and went on to receive his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller. He is the author of Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith, and Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus. In addition to his blog, Formerly Fundie, his work has been regularly featured by a wide array of media outlets such as TIME magazine and CNN, among others.
BLC
BLC is a cultural anthropologist, public theologian, writer, speaker, global traveler, and tattoo collector. He is a two-time graduate of Gordon-Conwell with graduate degrees in Theology & Intercultural Studies, and went on to receive his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller. He is the author of Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith, and Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus. In addition to his blog, Formerly Fundie, his work has been regularly featured by a wide array of media outlets such as TIME magazine and CNN, among others.
