Category: Practical Theology
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Reflections of a Recovering Fatalist
Read more: Reflections of a Recovering FatalistI was an athlete growing up, extremely competitive both then and now, and never gave up during any sort of competitive setting no matter how dire the situation was. For whatever reason, this attitude stayed on the field and was entirely vacant for most of my life outside of sports. On the field, I was…
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Do you do well to be angry?
Read more: Do you do well to be angry?This week’s lectionary readings began with Jonah; to be specific, the end of his story. Taken all together, the four readings weave a portrait of the encounter of an angry man with a generous God. This fall, God has been generous, and I have been angry. So this was a helpful week. Here’s what I’ve learned,…
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A Pauline Call for a Christian Meat Taboo
Read more: A Pauline Call for a Christian Meat TabooJohn M.G. Barclay, ‘Food, Christian Identity and Global Warming: A Pauline Call for a Christian Food Taboo’, The Expository Times 121 (2010): 585-93. Over the past couple years I have repeatedly returned to the article listed above. Not because I forget about the main point, but because I find it incredibly compelling. I just keep…
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Eating as Missions
Read more: Eating as MissionsI just came back from a week-long missions vision trip in the Philippines. It was a whirlwind of a trip, traveling to a new place everyday, but it was a great time of encouragement and eating, meeting and worshipping with other believers from different places. While the Philippines has recently been in the news, due to…
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Disney’s Impact on Guest Experience
Read more: Disney’s Impact on Guest ExperienceThis past year, I had the privilege to attend the popular Drive Conference hosted by North Point Ministries. It was a time for my colleagues and I to travel and enjoy a wonderful time together. This was my first time in Atlanta, first time experiencing true southern hospitality, and first time experiencing the famous Waffle…
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Some Thoughts about Calling
Read more: Some Thoughts about CallingI never really thought I would be here, in this place wondering what is next. When we left Aberdeen it was in hopeful anticipation of the next step almost being an immediate thing. At first it was a bit disappointing…. ok really disappointing. I really didn’t have much time to reflect on what was next….
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Is It Really About “America First?”
Read more: Is It Really About “America First?”In light of everything that is happening today in our nation regarding area of immigration, I wanted to write about how as Christians, we need to respond to these issues and see what God’s heart looks like towards the foreigner and sojourner. Instead of just being ethnocentric as Americans, and seeing America First!, our core…
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Advent, Betrothal, and a whole lot of waiting
Read more: Advent, Betrothal, and a whole lot of waitingFor those who don’t know, I am getting married in about 30 days from now. The prospect of this fills me with such joy, primarily because my wife-to-be is my best friend and someone I choose not to live without. There will be so many practical benefits to our marriage: Cutting commute time in half,…
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Why is the bush not burned?
Read more: Why is the bush not burned?Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it saved Israel. As he unwittingly proto-typed Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Moses was distracted by a curious phenomenon: “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Ex. 3:3) Read the rest of the story here. Why is the bush not burned?…
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Our Evil God
Read more: Our Evil GodEvil things happen in this world, and yet God is still somehow sovereign. This is perhaps the hardest part of Christian theology to accept and understand. How is God sovereign over the persecution of Christians around the world, over the acts of ISIS, over world hunger and poverty, or over smaller evils like my own depression,…