Even Justice For An Enemy

There has been a lot said in the media about Omar Kadhr since his $10.5 million dollar settlement with the Federal government was announced earlier this month and not all of it was true. As John Oliver says, "memes aren't facts." You need to be careful who you listen to, so consider the following summary …

A Distracted Mind

This week I've been learning about Spiritual Reflection at a one week intensive course at Lipscomb University. We talked about a study done by two Harvard researchers who wanted to track the connection between where your attention was focused, and how happy you were. So they developed an iPhone app that contacted 2,250 volunteers at …

Beyond Betrayal

"Hosea and Gomer" by Cody Miller. Hosea 3:1-5 1 The Lord said to me, “Go, love your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen …

The Missional Samaritan

Missional theology is a notoriously slippery thing to get a handle on. If you are looking to understand what being a missional church is about, try this on for size. A missional church makes itself known in the way it handles and distributes power. Consider the story of the Good Samaritan. In Luke 10: 25-37 …

Jesus: Head and Foot

Jesus: Head and Foot. What do we do when stories from different parts of the Bible don't agree?

21st Century Hymns

One of the benefits of setting up the PowerPoint for worship on Sunday is you often have to type the words to the songs into the computer. I have often found a profound sermon hidden in the words of a hymn we will sing (often more profound than the sermon I was going to preach). …

A Biblical View of Hell

Yesterday I wrote about things that we know aren't true about Hell from what the Bible teaches: Hell is not underground Satan is not in charge of hell Hell is not hot and full of fire. I believe the image of fire (which is common in the Scriptures) is meant to operate on a number …

Hell's Bells and Rob Bell's Hell.

Furious commentary has been everywhere for the past couple of weeks over Rob Bell's new book,  Love Wins.  Bell's new publisher, HarperOne even moved the release date up to today (my cynical side thinks it is in order to take advantage of the additional publicity). I've read plenty of reviews of this book (positive and …

The Church as the Image of God

Back to blog writing... After having a week of stresses big and small, good and bad, (a term paper, struggling families, a new nephew,  needing a new roof, etc.) I suffered my greatest wound receiving an eight word email that cut me to the quick and took me days to get over. I am encouraged …

The Most Subversive Protest Yet

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the gospel on display in Egypt. Christian churches were bombed by terrorists and the 90% of Egypt's population that is Muslim expressed their outrage by attending Christian Mass on Eastern Orthodox Christmas Day (Jan 7) to keep extremists from bombing again. I read today that on last …