Many people in the Protestant evangelical world when they hear this word it likely conjures up images of an austere man wearing a funny hat, walking up the center aisle of a cathedral waving a smoking pole. In the background a choir sings in an unknown language. Liturgy is a […]
Imagine this bleak scenario: you find yourself convicted of a terrible crime and sentenced to life in prison. The conditions are terrible: filthy cells, meager food, and no relationships with people you can trust. The longer your sentence goes on, the worse the suffering becomes. The only way you’re leaving
What a Friend for Sinners Read More »
How do you give emphasis to something when you are writing? Online people write things in ALL CAPS to indicate they are being really serious. Sometimes we are not content to put one exclamation point at the end of a sentence so we put two or three. Others choose to
The Bible is a surprising book. When I first started reading it in high school, I regularly cocked an eyebrow at the things in it: stories of men and women doing shockingly ugly things— and of a God who loved them anyway. The Big Story of the Bible (and the
Making God’s House a Home Read More »
Every culture has rituals that seem bizarre to outsiders. Take the White House tradition of pardoning the Thanksgiving Day turkey as just one example of such an American tradition. When we the story of how God made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15, we scratch our heads. Why are
Cutting a Covenant Read More »
It’s pretty common today to hear some Christians say “Theology doesn’t matter.” Sometimes this is not said explicitly but in other roundabout ways like, “Faith over reason” or “All that matters is Jesus.” A good follow up question to that statement is “Which Jesus?” Various religious groups have views of
Does Theology Matter? Read More »
