Jesus Manifesto: Review May 31, 2010

Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have thoughtfully written their newest book, Jesus Manifesto, in an “ancient devotional tone,” seeking to “show the difference between invoking the name of Jesus in vain and using His name in a way that reveals His beauty and honors His person” (introduction, p. xx). They explained that the purpose of [...]

Jesus Manifesto: Introduction May 31, 2010

I’ve been working my way through Leonard Sweet and Paul Viola’s book Jesus Manifesto. So far, I’ve read a lot of great insight calling the church back to seeing and savoring the sovereignty and supremacy of Jesus Christ. I’ll be posting some of my favorite quotes as I continue. From the introduction, pages xix-xx, Sweet [...]

LOST in the Gospel May 24, 2010

Fair warning: SPOILERS! The finale of LOST is clearly a big topic of interest to the millions of faithful fans who have been following it since 2004, or who have picked it up sometime along the way. The show has always represented the concept of a journey by faith into an unknown world, and many [...]

Theological Question 1a: Does God Love Everyone the Same? March 27, 2010

I think it will be interesting and relevant to discuss certain important theological questions from a Biblical standpoint.  As this post suggests, I intend to write a few blog posts on each topic, the first being “Does God Love Everyone?  If so, does He love everyone in exactly the same way?”.  Just to give a [...]

Grace — just “amazing”? January 12, 2010

I suppose words just can’t do grace justice.  Yes, it’s certainly amazing.  But a lot of things are “amazing”, today, just like a lot of things (that probably don’t merit the title) are “awesome”. Every once in a while, when I can see for an instant above the haze of my utter failure and sinfulness, [...]

Half of Christian men admit to struggling with pornography. June 11, 2009

I came across a news story of a pastor who was caught in the act and was made to leave his ministry.  How many more pastors and Christian men struggle with it?  If half of Christian men will admit it, it begs the question of how many Christian men are lying about their struggles with [...]

How hard should we fight against porn and other sexual immorality? June 11, 2009

“I take the TV out of my hotel room at night and deposit it with a co-worker. I bring home the receipts from my trips and ask my wife to verify that no pornographic movies were purchased. I put a filter on my notebook computer, which would send an email to my wife if I [...]

There is hope for the porn addict. June 10, 2009

I was planning on jumping right into discussing the things that I’m struggling with right now, but I realized that doing so would not do justice to God and the work that He has been doing in me over the past five years, and so I’m going to share a little bit about what the [...]

Things that are too tough for me. [Introduction] June 9, 2009

It’s so easy to talk about objective issues that don’t affect or challenge the way I live. I figure it’s about time to address some of the things that I struggle with and that I simply can’t do right, since I definitely don’t want to come across as one who thinks that he’s perfect and doesn’t need any help from anyone. That’s simply not the case. This series will hit a number of issues that are of personal relevance to me (and hopefully expose my sinful humanity), but I’m going to start with the foundations of why these issues are issues. Therefore, this introductory post will be applicable to all of humanity whereas the following posts will focus on what I personally am wrestling with (though others undoubtedly will share some of my struggles).

Part of this idea comes from something Derek Webb said in his “Intro to I Repent” from his “The House Show” album:

“[The best thing that could ever happen to you] is that your sin would be literally exposed in the five-o’-clock news. Your deepest, darkest, most embarrassing sin. The one you work the hardest to hide, would be broadcast on the five-o’-clock news. Best thing that would ever happen to you… Because I am so weary, I am so tired of having to hide my sin from people. Of deceiving people about who I really am–I’m tired of it!”

Which of these pictures best represents what Jesus did in the world? June 8, 2009

The question is “Which of these three pictures do you feel best represents what Jesus did in history, and why did you pick the picture that you did?”  Or as an alternative: post a link to a picture that you think well-represents Jesus.  I’ll provide a few words on why I think that each picture [...]