Every seasoned believer can quote Romans 3:23 (especially the Calvinists):  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. But how often does the second half of that sentence get quoted? What some editor has determined to be a separate verse (24) is actually a continuation of a single thought: “And are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The whole sentence is a wonderfully concise statement of the gospel.  First half: problem. Second half: solution. Yet so many Christians read the first half very literally (as I agree is appropriate)…

I had heard this fable before but I don’t remember ever reading this poetic version.  John Godfrey Saxe retells the story of the 6 blind men who each get hold of a different part of an elephant and so come to very different conclusions about the nature of elephants. At the end of his poem, Saxe astutely summarizes the lesson and then points the moral directly at those who argue theology.  It would be good for all who profess belief in God to contemplate this lesson on a regular basis.  The Blind Men and the Elephant: A Hindoo FableBy John…

I was teaching freshman English at a large private Christian school on the Northside of Indy in the early 2000s.  It was my first real teaching job and my first time teaching Shakespeare. The curriculum dictated Romeo and Juliet but the day to day approach was up to me.  After discussing a bit of historical background with the students for context, I was ready to launch into the first scene: The big street fight between servants from the houses of the Montagues and the Capulets.  Now it’s always been my contention in school that Shakespeare should be performed and watched –…

Most modern Christian content you find online and in books seems to assume that people ate “brains-on-sticks”, in James K.A. Smith’s phrasing. Christianity becomes a matter of simply giving mental assent to a long list of statements about God. But how long does the list need to be? And whose list is the right one? Most churches readily and proudly offer their Statement of Faith and expect members to adhere to each carefully worded phrase. Each Statement is a bit different, but somehow they are all orthodox according to the respective teams.  Sure, from week to week during worship there…

I witnessed the weaponization of social media against a recently-made friend this morning and it grieved my soul.  Apparently my new friend has some genuine past skeletons in her closet and those were exposed on Facebook by another woman bent on personal destruction. There’s no way of knowing which of all the accusations are true or to what extent, but they were all shocking. Some were backed with documentation, giving the illusion (to the uninitiated) that all were true. The enemy succeeded.  My friend has resigned in shame from a job she loved. I doubt I will ever know the…

Jesus says that if one desires to be his disciple, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow Him.  He says that whoever seeks to save his own life will lose it and whoever loses his life for His sake will find it. Then the Apostle Paul tells the Galatians that he himself is crucified with Christ and the life he now lives in the flesh he lives by faith in the Son of God. And to the Philippians Paul describes his desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings…

There is so much to chew on in the latter half of the 3rd chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. And it’s what I get to preach tomorrow morning.  Since I don’t get 90 minutes for my sermon, I am forcing myself to focus on verses 17 to 19: 17Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you. 18For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their end is destruction, their god…

I don’t care for Ken Ham – the Creation Museum guy. I mean the museum and the ark are fine enough, but some of the guy’s theology and his attitude are too much for my tastes. He is the quintessential “man with a hammer” to whom everything looks like a nail.  That doesn’t keep me from listening to his videos now and then – I do what I can to avoid echo chambers.  I caught Ham’s latest video this evening as I drove home from Indianapolis. (I was listening, not watching!) I have to give him credit for pointing out…