My new video gives a twenty minute introduction to the themes of my book What’s So Confusing About Grace? Check it out!
gospel
The Most Bizarre Rejoinder I Ever Heard From a Christian Fundamentalist
In 2013 I published my book What on Earth Do We Know About Heaven? in which I presented my core thesis in the following equation: “H=ep.” In other words, “heaven” (in terms of the absolute and final destination for individuals reconciled to God in Christ) is not the otherworldly paradise of the popular Christian (and Platonic) imagination. […]
Thanks to Donald Trump I will no longer call myself an evangelical
Many people (Republicans mostly) were apparently shocked by the latest debacle to unfold on Donald Trump’s long road to perdition: I speak, of course, of the 2005 Access Hollywood footage. This kind of disgusting glamorization of sexual assault might be expected in the high school locker room. It’s a bit more shocking coming out of the mouth of […]
Sorry, this pew is paid for
The other day while I was reading up on the historic practice of parishoners renting or buying private pews in churches, I happened upon this fascinating article: “Sacred Mysteries: Renting the Best Seats in Church.” When I lived in England I visited a church which still had some old pews with locked gates that had been […]
A More Christlike God: A (very long and detailed) Review
Bradley Jersak. A More Christlike God, A More Beautiful Gospel. (Pasadena, CA: CWR Press, 2015). The back cover of Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace? includes the following epigram: “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less.” […]
69. Danielle Strickland on the Gospel and Kingdom
Christians are people of the Gospel. But what is the gospel, exactly? Like many evangelicals, I grew up thinking that the gospel was the claim that Jesus died for our sins, full stop. That description is correct in what it affirms but wrong in what it leaves out, for the Gospel is so much more. […]
34. Wes Olmstead on the Sermon on the Mount
John Stott opens his book The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by observing, “The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed.” Countless people have found themselves inexorably drawn to this profound teaching, […]
19. Mark Buchanan on becoming an Acts church
This time on The Tentative Apologist Podcast we sit down with pastor, author, public speaker and professor Mark Buchanan. After pastoring for 17 years at New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan, BC, Buchanan moved to Calgary, Alberta in September 2013 to become Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose Seminary. Buchanan is perhaps best known […]
Returning to the social roots of evangelicalism (without becoming liberal)
Last year I was running a seminar at a K-12 Christian school for some teachers and board members when I noticed this unassuming display. It reflects a project at the school in which they’ve partnered with an African village. I initially wrote that they “adopted” an African village. But that paternalistic language doesn’t convey the fact that […]
The Oprah Gospel tastes sweet, but is it lethal?
Oprah Winfrey visited Edmonton the other day to give an inspirational evening of Oprah-speak. Apparently Oprah has a lot of inspiration to share. (I would too if I was making the money she makes for public appearances.) Incidentally, this is a picture of Oprah arriving at Edmonton’s airport when the temperature was about -20 c. […]
Would the real Gospel please stand up?
In “Would Jesus stone a misbehaving child?” I proposed that he wouldn’t. My case consisted of a retelling of the woman caught in adultery with the adulterous woman being replaced with a belligerent child. The proposal met with some criticism. (Is there anything I write that isn’t met with some criticism? If it’s not the […]
“He said he would prefer to go to Hell…”
Here’s another golden oldie. This little number shot to the top of the charts in the summer of 09′. Now back digitally remastered and better than ever, here is “He said he would prefer to go to Hell…” *** Belief and disbelief are often more complicated than we would like to admit. Consequently, drawing a […]
Who cares about truth when you have urban legends?
A few years ago I was at a church watching their Christmas pageant when the narrator shared with the audience the uplifting origins of the candy cane. According to the narrator, back in the 19th century a candy maker in Indiana, desiring to share his faith in Christ, developed a special new candy to share […]
Consumerism as Religion
Tomorrow I fly to Rio de Janeiro to deliver an address on the topic of happpiness. As I have written the talk I have chosen to focus on two different, rival accounts of happiness: consumerism and Christian personalism. In preparing for my address I have been struck both by the overlap between consumerism and Christianity on key […]