Jesus of Nazareth as a guy

I had a crisis of faith in my mid-20s. My background was Christian, and my trouble centered on whether there was any point in me continuing with the faith. I wanted a deeper connection to God than what is stereotypically understood to be on offer in most American churches. It seems to me Jesus is […]

How to find peace

Like any good sermon, this post is written more for myself than anyone else. I’ve been pretty miserable for a good portion of my life. From panic attacks and depression as a young boy to inheriting the worldview of a family that doesn’t necessarily always look on the bright side, my predisposition has been […]

Where fear, panic and despair die

Each of us lives in two realities. One reality is the external world in which we interact with each other, where we work, we go to school, and where objective things happen to us: we get a new job, babies are born, loved ones die, and so on. The other reality is our internal thought […]

Overcoming my demon: fear

There isn’t much I’ve been unwilling to lay bare about myself in the hopes of helping others who may be experiencing similar situations or issues. One such issue I’ve written a good deal about is my lifelong struggle with panic and depression. It’s not a topic I enjoy writing or talking about because of how […]

What the American Church needs to hear

As I sometimes do when I feel despair and confused, I headed to St. Simons Island today. I go there to commune with God and connect with one of my long-dead spiritual mentors, John Wesley. St. Simons is, along with Savannah, the only place in America where the Wesley brothers stepped foot. John convinced his […]

There is no “us vs. them”

What if we had no enemies? What if that’s exactly what Christianity teaches but few of us accept? I’ve been holed up at my home for the last two days recovering from being sick, and in between fitful bouts of sleeping and waking my heart and head have been struck by two teachings of Jesus […]

The Christian’s relationship with politics

Christianity is both intensely political and apolitical. The Gospels and early Christians loudly proclaimed the very political opinion that “Jesus is Lord,” a direct contradiction and parody of the Roman slogan “Caesar is Lord.” Yet when several people tried to corner Jesus into making an overtly political statement regarding paying taxes to Caesar, Jesus demurred […]