Peter Hegseth, Andrew Tate, and the Challenge to Christian Masculinity
When I first woke up in the wee hours of the night with this paper on my heart, it had a more controversial title. It ended with “and the Failure of Christian Masculinity.” But Christian Masculinity hasn’t failed, it just hasn’t yet met the challenges it faces. People were surprised by the hard right turn […]
The World Needs This From Us
There are Christians out there who are aching for an experience of God that is different from what they get in (almost all) mainline churches. They have a hunger for something they’re not getting. They also want to be a part of a church or denomination that welcomes everyone, not just those who conform to […]
What You Grasp Matters
(This short paper was written for my group as we were prepared for being inducted into a healing ministry.) In our study of the miracles of Jesus last week we read three accounts of Jesus’ healing of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. During the discussion we took note of the manner in which Jesus ministered to her, […]
On Biblical Same-Sex Marriage (Yes, it exists)
Yes, there really is a biblical argument for same-sex marriage.
Repent
I wrote this some years ago when I was sending out weekly emails to many members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Looking it back over during this Lenten season, it still seems to ring. “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and […]
A Fast from Striving
One of the most important things that I ever learned from Graham Cooke was the value of rest. Not naps, although I love naps now that I’m older, but rest. Rest isn’t about being still, although it results in much inner stillness. Rest isn’t about not doing anything. On the contrary, I can be very […]
Let the Women Preach
I recently decided to venture into the wilderness that is Twitter. I had set up an account some years ago and followed a lot of my favorite worship leaders and a few popular preachers, but it had remained dormant for some years. This time, when I crossed the threshold into the Twitterverse, I ran headlong […]
Worship – The Redemption of Desire
(This paper is probably more easily read in a PDF format. Here’s A Link to the PDF.) Ever since Michael and I started Preaching Peace, we have struggled with the desire (pun intended) to make what we do practical, to help what we’ve learned in and through the study of Rene Girard’s “Mimetic Theory” to […]
New Testament Prophecy
I wrote this back in 2012, but the need for prophets is only greater today, I think… “Eventually, the world will know they’ve met a prophet – a whole community of prophets.” This is the last line of the sermon delivered by the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori to the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in […]
“Love the Lord Your God”
I wrote this piece more than nine years ago. And Flo and was repping Progressive even back then. I bet that actress is tired of playing that role by now. At any rate, I was looking through some old writings and thought this was worth reviving. We think too little about the Song of Solomon. […]
Chivalry
I wrote this more than a decade ago for a blog I was writing called “Heartstrings.” It may not be as sensitive to gender issues as some might wish today, but I think the ideas still hold. So here it is. Chivalry Yesterday Sara and I went to Appleby’s for lunch. As is my custom, […]
Crucified Son of Man or Mighty One
Mark’s Chiastic Gospel Structure and the Question of Jesus’ Identity More than twenty years ago I was preparing to lead a Bible study on Mark. I began with the well known pair of verses that bookend the Gospel in which the heavens are torn. (At Jesus’ baptism and His death.) I then recalled that Mark […]
It Is Finished
This piece began life as a meditation on one of the Last Seven Words of Christ one Holy Week many years ago. I don’t think it makes much less sense today than it did then. In 1944, Lt. Hiroo Onoda was sent by the Japanese army to the remote Philippine island of Lubang. His mission […]
Why Do We Study?
(This is another of the articles I wrote for the Cross, the publication of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. It deals with one of our three disciplines (Prayer, Study, and Service). But it speaks to the study of the Bible in a wider context too, so here it is.) Prayer, Study, Service. We hold to […]
“O come, O come Emmanuel!”
(I wrote this back in 2015 for the Cross, the publication for the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. I think most of it still applies.) Most of us have sung this already this season. If we haven’t we certainly will soon. It is the cry of every heart, even those who don’t know God, (though they […]
A new take on Romans 7
I wrote this back in November of 2012. I suspect it’ll find it’s way into a Divergence in Year A (Proper 9, I think) But I’m going to publish it now, separately, with a few minor edits. Maybe this isn’t new, but it’s new to me. I’ve read an awful lot of commentaries on Paul […]
