christianity Deconstruction: Years in the [Bre]aking Photo by Rye Jessen I’d thought my deconstruction process only began in earnest about a year ago. I thought that of course it would line up conveniently with the separation. But when is deconstruction ever convenient? Or neat and tidy? I said “the
church Believing Lies Will Distract You from Purpose I’ve believed a lot of silly half-truths and lies thus far in my life. Like, when I was 5 or so, my brother and dad convinced me that I was going to spawn a watermelon from my abdomen like an alien from the
Christian life Why Jesus Is a Terrible Leader for Millennials It’s been a really long time since I last posted, I’m sorry. In all honesty, life’s gotten busy and I haven’t managed my priorities well. But enough about me and onto Jesus. There’s been a lot of talk in
Brothers One Transgression Does Not Beget Another “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” — Galatians 6:1 It was a pleasure getting to church yesterday morning to find out
church Gay Marriage: Where Should Christians Stand? The striking down of DOMA the other week in the Supreme Court is probably old news by now. I believe the issue at hand, gay marriage, is just hitting its stride. And now the Church finds itself in a highly precarious position. If gay
church Essentials of Faith: Community I have some great friends. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for these people, but I know I’m not grateful enough. For encouragement, reproach, joy, sadness, community, this group of friends, is essential. The life of faith is bound to
church Sex: The Ties That Bind It’s no secret that sex and sexual sin have been a thorn in the side of the Church since, well, before the Church. Throughout the ages, sex has pockmarked the Church’s history. And I think we can all agree that today is
church The Vine of the Living Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. Disconnect from him and you may not die immediately, but guaranteed you'll whither over time. — Pastor Mark Driscoll (@PastorMark) June 9, 2013 Whether directly or indirectly, there’s been a lot of talk
Christian life People. Life Is About the People In the past three years, I’ve moved six times. I’ve been in four distinct locales. And I’m getting set to move again in the near future. You’d better believe I know that life can get lonely. However, I’ve also
Cain Flatline Worship “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillanIf you’re familiar with this song, you’ll probably remember there’s a line in that people in the Church didn’t find quite…couth. So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss… I’d be
blind The Kingdom Of the Blind A blind view of heaven. I was minding my own business, singing worship in church yesterday when it happened. In the only row in front of my mom and me sat a mother and her blind son. No more than seven, he touched my
christianity Deep Divide Deep divide. We live in a rather binary society. If you’re not one, you’re the other. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. We’re also in a time where to be on that other side can have grave
blind devotion Religion Fails Religion fails. Every time. No matter what, religion itself will fail. See, I wanted to continue the topic from Monday’s post on Bite-Sized Questions, but with the releasing of the most recent Pew Report on religious affiliation being brought up several times in
beautiful What’s Wrong With Sex? What’s wrong with sex? Now that I have your attention, I am, you are, he is, she is, we all are. Why? Because some time ago, someone in some tall tower decided that sex would be best thought of as bad. So, now
church Purpose Starts With Understanding Purpose starts with understanding. We all want to lead purposeful lives. No one wants to lead a dull existence that lacks direction or significance. Without understanding who we are, it’s impossible to see fully our potential for what we could be. You wouldn’
church Constructive Dissent Constructive dissent. You know, it’s not a sin to disagree with a church. I think you’ll find much of Jesus’ ministry aimed at taking issue with the Church in His day. Instead, it is our reaction to that dissenting view and how
broken people We’ve All Been Hurt By the Church We’ve all been hurt by the Church. In one way or another, I think we’ve all been hurt by the Church (the global collection of churches who worship Jesus as God’s son and our Savior). As a result, many have turned
bible If It Ain’t Broke If it ain’t broke… It’s what we’ve been telling ourselves for some time now, but I think it’s time to wake up. There is something horribly broken in the church and as Matthew Paul Turner, a fellow blogger and writer,
christian Our Foundation’s Cracked Our foundation’s cracked. The house that is our faith is crumbling in upon itself and we are left inside fixing to be crushed. Actually, we haven’t even noticed the walls bowing in toward the center of the building. Regardless, whether we know
calling Born Again I was talking with a friend the other day about living the “born again” life, but mostly about what it meant to be born again in Christ and the level of commitment it requires. She then mentioned something that rang out to me. She
bible Un-Christian I was reading through the transcript of a live chat on the Washington Post and I found myself getting frustrated with what seemed like the lack of answers being provided. Even the answers that were seemed rather weak and it got me thinking that
adopted His Name Is Robert Paulson This weekend, I was watching Fight Club as a means of relaxing in between performances (news flash for some: yes, I was in a play) but had no intent of actually paying attention to the movie. I realize that’s a strange movie to
Acts The (Un)Welcome This, you could say is a continuation of last week’s post, but taken from a different angle. Last week, I looked at the early Christian Church found in Acts 2. While I wish I could say that I best belong in that church,
Acts The Ghost of Community Past By means of an introduction to this week’s post, I must issue a confession. I wanted so badly for this post to serve as a wrathful shot across the bow of what I see as the complacent Christian majority. Nothing would have pleased
church Weekend Recap So, I apologize up front, this post will be disjointed at best. Today’s been a great day and because of the day’s excitement, I am certainly ecstatic and thus highly ADD.With that out of the way, I went snowboarding Friday. I’