A week ago, Matt McCormick, a friend from our family’s years in Haiti, started writing on Substack. I found myself resonating deeply with his second post: What Jesus Talked about Most. Matt continues to work innovatively for development in Haiti through an organization called Xcelerant.   In the article, he expresses frustration over the question most often asked by American Christians when they are considering whether or not to financially support his work:  “Is Xcelerant a Gospel-centered organization, or just a humanitarian one?” They ask because American Christians are more likely to give money to a ministry which is actively “spreading…

A quick thought on faith: If faith is mere intellectual assent to a propositional truth (like “Jesus died for my sins”), then how does one SEE faith? Both Jesus and Paul saw faith: Mark 2:5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Acts 14:9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.

It’s interesting to step back and take an overview of the word “faith/believe” in the New Testament. If I am reading my sources correctly, the Greek word “pistis”, the noun form translated most often as “faith” occurs 243 times in the New Testament.  Coincidently, the verb form, “pisteuo”, translated typically as “believe” also occurs 243 times.  Both exist quite often without any object. But when they do have objects, there is quite a range. Here’s a sampling of the noun form, pistis/faith:  The Bible speaks of faith… The verb form, pisteuo/believe, has even more variety in its objects: The Bible…

Just about every time you listen to Christian YouTubers build a biblical case – either for their own particular theological paradigm or against someone else’s – you can bet that proof texting will play a major role. Broad doctrines are often built (or rejected) on the flimsiest of premises: one or two verses ripped out of context and read as woodenly as possible. There are certain proof texts that just drive me mad these days – ones that are cited time and again but are NEVER examined in context. For instance, I am sure that you have heard preachers point…

I overthink absolutely everything.  And so I am sure my family will not be surprised after my death to find some very specific thoughts on how my funeral should be conducted.  (Yes, I have thought through the fact that I will not be around to enforce my own desires and so I am already thinking about which of my children I should take aside and make swear an oath to uphold my wishes.) So here is a list of my funeral requests in no particular order. And I reserve the right to add to these right up until the moment…

I keep thinking about those who want to reduce the gospel to “Just believe that Jesus died for your sins and you will be guaranteed a place in heaven when you die”. It seems to me that they have a major timeline issue. And it includes every single person who “believed” in Jesus before his death, burial and resurrection. What exactly did those people “believe” before Good Friday rolled around? Jesus simply wasn’t walking around telling people that all that really mattered was that they believe he would die for their sins. In fact, he spoke so little about the…

The temperature was mild this morning for February and so I decided to take a walk. I was listening to some music on my phone as I left the house when I Am I Said by Neil Diamond started to play. As the song ended, I found myself hitting the replay button – three times. I was trying to figure out a new connection to lyrics which had been familiar to me since my childhood: L.A’s fine, sun shines most of the timeAnd the feeling is laid backPalm trees grow and rents are lowBut you know I keep thinkin’ aboutMaking my…

“Grace” is a central concept in most Christian traditions. The Calvinists speak of “irresistible grace”. By this they mean that God exercises His unmerited good will in the lives of His elect in order to bring them into an experience of salvation. The Wesleyans speak of “prevenient grace”. And by this they mean that God works in the lives of humans to wake them up to their need for God and His forgiveness, in preparation for salvation. In church circles, the most common definition of the word “grace” is “unmerited favor”. And God’s grace, in one way or another, is…

For a Lenten fast, I usually do something food related: giving up meat or soda or chocolate.  But since I started 2026 with some water fasting and sugar fasting already, giving up something food related just feels like overkill this Lent.  It just wouldn’t be very useful. And a fast should be useful  So I started for looking for places where my life is out of whack – where I could benefit from some extra discipline. The answer became obvious: phone usage. When it comes to wasting time, my Achilles’ heel is Tik-Tok style videos that pop up on every…