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Confessions of a Religious Asshole

Yesterday I got one of those comments on my blog. You know, one of the ones where horror turns to unintentional hilarity and then disbelief. One of those comments so bizarrely WRONG that you don’t know quite how to respond to it. I cringed, then I laughed, then I tore it up into a dozen…

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We Had Hoped

Silence. Then suddenly, a breath. Cold air rushing into empty lungs. Grave clothes abandoned on a stone slab. An explosion of earth-shaking light. Hardened soldiers’ knees buckling. Trumpet blasts and angels singing and sunrise. Silence. Then the creaking of a boulder shifting. A cave opening. A dead man walking out of his grave more alive…

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God is Dead

God is dead, and we killed Him. With politics and religion, with rage and fear, with wood and nails and fists we tore apart the body of the God and left Him to hang alone covered in blood and spit and shame.

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What Nobody Ever Told Me About Jesus

I’ve been wearing my heart on my sleeve around here, all torn up. It’s no secret that there’s been a lot of anger, swirling confusion, throbbing frustration. I’ve metaphorically stomped around the house slamming doors, yelling till my throat was raw. Mostly yelling about the Church. I want to talk about this again a bit…

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In Search of a Better Gospel

“I don’t know whether or not I’m an evangelical anymore. Is there a BuzzFeed quiz for that?” I tweeted that a month ago, half-joking. As it turns out, there is no simple quiz. Instead, there’s this bleeding disaster that has been throbbing for almost two weeks now — lines in the sand, farewells, angry words,…

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The Correct Theology Didn’t Help These Guys

Ed Cyzewski is one of those people who writes the words I wish I could. He has some really important things to say to people who want to follow Jesus, through all the doubt and confusion anyway. I can hardly wait to read his new book, but in the meantime he’s written a few words…

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They Won't Be Expecting That

Baby Jesus

At Christmas time, I’m struck by how unexpected it all is. We expect a god to be powerful, mighty, smiting his enemies, concerned with his own glory. We don’t expect God to be born in a stable — a crying, scared, helpless baby. Don’t forget this. Don’t forget what God did on Christmas. It’s remarkable,…

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The Church is Dying and I Am Glad

Church is Dying

Some people say that the church is dying, and maybe they’re right. They say that the church doesn’t have the political sway it used to, that the culture has shifted, that being a Christian doesn’t have the same social advantages that it used to. They say that the bandwagon has stopped carrying us and started running…

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The God Who Bleeds

the God who Bleeds

I’m haunted by the mystery that Jesus was God in human form. Not an ambassador from God, not one part of the Whole, but the entire fullness of the Godhead clothed in flesh. The Creator walking among the Created. We have certain expectations for how a god should act. The myths tell us that a…

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Death, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I missed “Bring Your Gun to Starbucks Day” this week. The plan was to “thank starbucks for standing up for our right to bear arms” by bearing arms into Starbucks and ordering coffee. There was a logo and everything – the Starbucks mermaid-goddess, brandishing two handguns, framed with the words “I Love Guns & Coffee”.…

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