An infamous political strategist, speaking of the plans of the current U.S. regime, said that the way they would overcome the resistance of their opposition and the limits of Constitutional boundaries was to “flood the zone”—essentially to overwhelm people with uncertainty, fear, and indecision. With new Executive Orders being issued almost daily, and the ensuing […]
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Empathy Isn’t a Sin; It’s Holy Dynamite (TAW057)
Episode 057 – Empathy Isn’t a Sin; It’s Holy Dynamite (With Felicia Murrell) Once again, influential Christian leaders are declaring empathy a sin. One influential Reformed theologian calls empathy “Counterfeit compassion” and names it “the greatest rhetorical tool of manipulation in the 21st century.” For people whose central ethic is to love the neighbor as […]
What is a spiritual life? Do I have one?
Few words are quite as squishy as “spiritual.” Some avoid using it because it’s open to so many interpretations. After all, the term is used by all sorts of people, probably even people who disagree with you! Yet, I think spiritual is a worthy and helpful word. Note: This post, first published on 9/12/2022, is an edited […]
When the Marginalized Are Our Prophets (TAW056)
Episode 056 – When the Marginalized Are Our Prophets (With Jenai Auman) The person who truly understands “what’s going on” in any room is often not the one in charge. Instead, it’s usually those on the margins—individuals whose lives and survival depend on recognizing the hidden structures of power—who see things most clearly. In her […]
Constantine wasn’t the problem. Here’s why that matters today.
Of course, Constantine is worthy of criticism on many fronts. He was one of the earliest celebrity conversions we know of. He may have been the first high-profile person to convert to Christianity for purposes unrelated to Jesus. And certainly, He was a bloody, vindictive Emperor who used the violent power of his station to […]
Two Preachers React to God’s Love. Which One Speaks for You?
How far would you be willing to go to ensure that the folks you hate don’t receive God’s mercy? That’s the question that lies at the heart of the Jonah story. Most people think the whaleis the point, but that’s a distraction. Let’s briefly recall the story. And then I’ll share a fascinating connection with […]
A Better Place Than Here (TAW055)
Episode 054 – A Better Place Than Here (With Jennifer Knapp) What would you learn if you had the opportunity to go back and revisit your spiritual journey of twenty-five years ago? What if that experience happened in community, with folks who were there with you, when it happened? What would you learn? How are […]
Hey Church, What Are We Building?
Standing on a broad, grassy hill in central Türkiye, I had a revelation. The hill was thick with thistles, periodically broken through by irregular bleached stones. It lay about a mile south of a rural highway, surrounded by farmland. If you stumbled on the site accidentally, you’d have no idea what you were looking at […]
Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (TAW054)
Episode 054 – Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (With Sarah Sanderson) Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God’s work of bringing restoration and liberation, we can’t ignore what’s happened in the past. Telling this truth is the only way […]
No, Love Does Not Require Unity.
I’ve not experienced a time that felt more divided. Pick the area of discourse, and people are forming camps, drawing lines of who is in and who is out, and naming the folks on the other side of the line as enemies. The emotional temperature seems to ping-pong between frustration and rage. In this environment, […]
What if the Bible isn’t perfect? (TAW053)
Episode 053 – What if the Bible isn’t perfect? (With Zach Hunt) There are many debates and disagreements within Christianity. Behind most of these, you’ll find one very significant issue. How we read the Bible. The way we read the Bible and what we believe about how the Bible came to be directly gets at […]
“Biblical Womanhood is Christian Patriarchy.” We can do better.
I’ll start with the conclusion: Followers of Jesus are called to join him in his mission. In case we get confused, he defined his mission for us in Luke’s gospel. . If our message and actions don’t bring good news to the poor, freedom to prisoners, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed, […]
Starting over sucks. Starting over gives life.
This summer, I’ve been playing a video game with my son. This is his territory; he gets to be the expert. I get to spend time with him. The game we’re playing is called Valheim. It’s a Viking-themed survival game where you gather resources, craft new technology, and try to stay alive when the monsters […]
Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith. (TAW052)
Episode 052 – Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith (With Pastor Mandy Smith) Often the church seems in a panic to avoid the influence of culture, but what if the church is already fully bought into the assumptions of culture? Western culture assumes that strength, leadership, and being right are the way of success. Does the […]
When the Garden runs wild.
I’ve been working to remove unhelpful metaphors from my thinking these days. In our accomplishment-focused, hustle-paced world, many of our central metaphors are mechanistic. We’re thinking of our hearts and our minds like machines, or assembly lines, or computers. These metaphors, however, do us harm because we are not machines.