There is no such thing as prophetic or apostolic leadership AT THE TOP of the church. Prophetic and apostolic leading happens from WITHIN the community, DISCERNING the work of the Spirit with others instead of DECLARING to them. There is no “And it seemed good to ME and the Spirit”.There is only “And it seemed […]
In discipleship, we need less education theory and more neuro-socio-emotional practice. Focusing on education assumes that discipleship is primarily about learning information. But discipleship is about transformation. And the transformation of the person—as the best relational and affective neuroscience is showing—comes through our embodied socio-emotional relationships. This transformation simultaneously rewire our neural pathways (in us) […]
We should expect churches to limp along. This limping—rather than being an excuse for moral failure—is the best protection against spiritual abuse and spiritual disfunction. Denying our Limp Leads to Abuse Abuse and disfunction come from hiding or denying our weaknesses. Abuse and disfunction come from preying on the weakness of others. Abuse and disfunction […]
What is divinity? What does it mean to be divine? Is there a pyramid-scale of divine status? In other words, is divinity like a high school cafeteria with all the cools seniors at one end and the dorky freshmen at the other? Today I’m continuing the video series on “Why Bart Ehrman is Cheating” in […]
Would human rights emerge from a civilization-scale Bible Belt? Does the Bible Belt represent the historic sweep of Christianity? The answer is: No, on all accounts. The Bible Belt would NOT BE a very nurturing cradle in which to raise human rights. In fact, they would probably die of neglect—or something worse. But tragically, most […]
During the pandemic, physical church attendance is seen as optional at best. And because of the understandable deconstruction and disgust, many are repulsed at the thought of church. And that’s why idea of “church as mother” elicits a strong response from people (for and against) (See my recent post and all the response). This is […]
Continuing the “Why Bart Ehrman is Cheating” series on his book, “How Jesus Became God”, we look at his claims for being a historian, and how Ehrman is cheating by setting up false opposition between “scientific facts” and “religious fictions”, between agnostic historians and credulous Bible scholars. That’s what this second video in the series […]
Is Jesus really the reason for the season of Christmas? Bart Ehrman is famous for “debunking” Christian claims about the Bible, Jesus, and early Christianity. He claims that early followers CHEATED by making stuff up about Jesus—including the Christmas stories. But maybe Ehrman is the one CHEATING. That’s what this video series is all about. […]
Earlier this week I asked “If you could change one thing about American Christianity, one specific thing, what would it be?” The responses were fantastic. And here’s mine (and it is specific, but it would mean changing many other things). Embodied Faith American Christianity—and really I’m talking about “white” American Christianity (of the right […]
Supplement, not Substitute Unpopular (probably) statement… Spiritual Direction is NOT a substitute for spiritual community (what’s often called church). It is only a supplement to church. I know that spiritual direction is richly relationally, and quite spiritual (except when it’s just psychological listening to the self, rather than spiritual listening to God). NOT AN INDIVIDUAL […]