The future of the Church

It’s no secret that the Church is a mess. It has been from the beginning. The New Testament is largely composed of letters Paul wrote to churches addressing several problems they were experiencing. Anyone who has been a member of an organization knows they are difficult to maintain: people disagree with each other often. There’s […]

Sex and marriage aren’t the answers

I couldn’t tell you why, but starting around the age of eight, the thing I wanted most in the world was to be married. I became one of those brooding teenagers who wrote poems, overly dramatic letters to girls I pine for, and identified with every 90s rock song about love or broken hearts or […]

When Christianity is wrong and dead

Church died when I was 23. I don’t talk much about that time because I made some bad, selfish decisions that I’m not proud of which hurt people. Those decisions were preceded by some tough times in a dry spiritual wasteland that ended with my realization that Church was dead to me. I was raised […]

The New Testament Church for today

Many Christians have been motivated by Christ’s prayer in John 17:21 “that all [Christians] may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Self included. I’ve wanted to see the thousands of denominations coalesce, put aside minor differences, and be about the Kingdom. In a lot of wonderful ways, […]

Struggling with Easter

Recently, Easter has become a difficult time for me. Identifying God’s love through the events of Holy Week and Easter is a challenge for me. Finding God’s love and receiving it are things I’m not all that gifted at in general, though I have had small numbers of breakthroughs over the past several years. A […]

Sex, happiness and meaning

If you can’t sleep, might as well write about sex, right? As a single guy in his early 30s, I do my fair amount of thinking about sex. Two or three months ago I wrote a mini-series on this blog about sex. And yet there’s more to say, if only because I am continually struck […]

Predestined or free?

Our starting context I don’t think a Christian’s belief regarding free will and/or predestination has any direct bearing on the really vital aspects of the faith. My personal background is Arminian, but I love and respect a great number of Christians who call themselves Calvinistic or Reformed. And there are plenty of Christians who hold […]