Category Archives: Essays and Articles

There are two phrases that keep coming back to me. “It is what it is.” & “It’s not what it could be.” The new year is a new slate, symbolically anyways. The spike and then steep dive in gym memberships around this time of year tells us flipping the page on the calendar doesn’t intrinsicallyContinue reading “Three (Local Pastors Told Me Their Hopes for 2021)”

*A contributor who wishes to remain anonymous helped with this article. *There is a video version of this article at the bottom of the post. Three lies we have believed as Evangelicals. God have mercy. 1. We Believed Actions Were More Important Than Communication and Character. We believed you could untangle these three elements ofContinue reading “Three (Lies We Believed)”

When I was a kid, I learned how to play poker by watching the weekly Saturday night game played by guys from the volunteer fire department. They just played for fun, but they did have a $2 per game ante to keep people from playing lazily or outrageously. Even a little skin in the gameContinue reading “Examining the Let Us Worship Movement”

Taking Responsibility This is not how I planned to wrap up this series of articles. I intended to write an introduction, four articles summarizing four different views, and then end with a concluding post outlining some of my own thoughts and beliefs on the subject of homosexuality and the church. This undertaking was far moreContinue reading “What I Learned Writing About Homosexuality (Part 4)”

Introduction *This post is part of a series dealing with a very difficult topic. It contains some mature language and themes. In part 3, I’ll be looking at the chapter written by Megan K. DeFranza who offers the second affirming view in the four part book, Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church. She received aContinue reading “Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church (Part 3)”

Introduction *This post is part of a series dealing with a very difficult topic. It contains some mature language and themes. The second argument I will examine is from Dr. William Loader. Loader is “widely regarded as the foremost scholar on sexuality in ancient Judaism and Christianity.” He received his doctorate in theology from Mainz,Continue reading “Homosexuality, The Bible, and the Church (Part 2)”

*This post is part of a series dealing with a very difficult topic. It contains some mature language and themes. “Listening to the Past, Reflecting on the Present” I’m writing this series of essays as a way of processing Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church, the book edited by Preston Sprinkle, published by Zondervan, andContinue reading “Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church (Part 1)”

At the end of the semester, we have to decide and defend what we’ve come to believe. Let me explain. As a college student, there are classes I cannot wait to attend, and there are classes which require a considerable amount of determination to sit through. I’m thankful my experience has been mostly the formerContinue reading “Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church (Introduction)”

I saw an advertisement yesterday heralding, “Unbiased News from a Christian Perspective.” In the comments, more than a few people pointed out the irony of that statement. It is the job of news media to make sense of the world. Some networks take a very active approach (Tucker Carlson giving energetic speeches in attempt toContinue reading “News Media – Why They Won’t “Give Us the Facts.””

I recently read an article written earlier this month by Kristina Grob, a professor at South Carolina University, and published in America, the Jesuit Review. In it, she argues for the usefulness of philosophy degrees in the workforce – hence the title “Want a Good Job? Major in Philosophy.” The article comes in the wakeContinue reading “Trading Up”