In his book The Face of the Deep, Paul Pastor makes a striking comparison between Isaiah’s unclean lips and the touching of the Spirit upon the mouths of those at Pentecost in Acts 2. I’ve only ever known emphasis on the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost to divide Christians. At a Pentecost Sunday church gathering…
All posts in theology
The New Prosperity Gospel of Dreams
Ran across this insightful thought last week: What was once a health and wealth prosperity gospel, is becoming a “dreams,” and “potential,” gospel, and it is in mainstream evangelicalism — Dean Inserra (@deaninserra) March 31, 2016 Not a day goes by when I do not see another Christian writer pushing these ideas. It’s looking out…
Even Unto Death
In his compelling work titled Disappearing Church, pastor and writer Mark Sayers lays out a thoughtful argument for why the church is disappearing. The issues raised are far greater than I could raise in one post (seriously, buy the book, Mark is excellent), but one point I connected with is the difference between what he…
Therefore, We Will Not Fear
“Therefore, we will not fear.” These are the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 46. Fear is standard protocol today. Politicians leverage fear in order to gain support. Pastors preach fear through the impending doom of hell. Fear mongering has become an artform, easily disguised in our age of individual expression where nothing seems to…
What I’ve Been Reading
I could easily name a myriad of reasons as to why my posts have been infrequent on here, but it would be a waste of your time to read that list. In the stead of my own pontifications, I wanted to share a few separate long-form essays, and blog posts that have been on my radar…
The United States of America: God’s Chosen People?
It wouldn’t take a prophet to see one of the biggest stories of 2016 being the lead-up to the Presidential election in November. The headlines, the banter, and the opinion pieces, all will overwhelm news organizations over the next 11 months, as if the last 11 months weren’t bad enough. Within this lead up will…