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Advertisement For a New Christianity

  Are you tired of an irrelevant faith? An antiquated set of beliefs that are embarrassing at best, and a menace to society at worst?  I have good news then. A new Christianity is coming. In fact, it is already here.  For me, it all started when I realized that what the Bible taught about monogamous heterosexual sex was increasingly out of step with what my friends and I knew to be true. I have many same-sex attracted friends that are pristine examples of true love and civility (way more than my church friends, to be honest!), so I knew there was something awry with the many straightforward verses that taught against homosexuality. Or perhaps, my interpretation of them. Either way, I did what any sensible person would do: I ignored the scriptures and followed what was right in my own eyes. After all, love is love, right? No one can disagree with that.  At first I felt guilty about rejecting the black and white teachings of my youth. I wondered if I would have to ditch Christianity alto
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Prophecy Fails of 2020

Is it just me, or was 2020 the biggest embarrassment for public prophecies in recent history? Akin, perhaps, to Hal Lindsay's epic fail in predicting Christ would return in 1988.  If you don't know, I'm writing this as someone who believes that the gift of prophecy is still in operation today. I believe that because the New Testament makes it clear that we should "pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy" (1 Cor 14:1). The exegetical attempts I have seen from Cessationists to argue that spiritual gifts have been discontinued are, well, about as embarrassing as all the failed prophecies I have seen lately.  So the Bible is clear on spiritual gifts, and I have experienced prophecy's power firsthand. One time a prophetic speaker I had never heard of before called me out of a crowd and said that God had planned a trip to Israel for me that would be significant. I actually started laughing out loud midway through his words becaus
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Do You Deserve God's Love?

In a not-so-subtly-named book, You Deserve the Love of God , the author argues we are hindered from enjoying salvation because of our perceived unworthiness. The back cover claims, “The residue of shame whispers, ‘…but I don’t deserve it.’ This issue is deeply ingrained in our Christianity. We have inherited a false theology in the basic unworthiness of the human creature.” This issue has been on my mind lately because just a week ago or so, a celebrity pastor tweeted something to the same effect as the above book title, and was then taken to task by other more conservative commentators. It’s not a new controversy, of course, but it appears to be one that is quite relevant to the current conversation. Personally, I’ve received mixed signals over the years on whether I “deserve” the love of God or not, even in the theological circles I have run in. If you’ll allow me to commit the sin of over-generalizing, I could say that in the so-called Charismatic/inner-healing streams I have he
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How I Discovered That Jesus Really Wants a House-of-Prayer-Church

"God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it." --John Wesley I was convinced early on in my journey of faith that the above quote from Wesley was indeed true. This is how. First, somebody somewhere told me about Jesus being a Passionate Lover--a Bridegroom--and that His presence could be more pleasurable than drugs, sex, and any other worldly pursuit. With childlike simplicity, I believed it. I began to spend time with Him alone on a sunny bench in southern California near my university dorm room. I would read the Bible and pray. The Bible was confusing, to be sure, but every once in awhile a verse would make sense and feel slightly relevant to my life. Prayer and worship, though, became the sweet spot. Perhaps the book of Isaiah did not offer me much in my early days as a Christian, but focusing on the beauty of Jesus and His love for me in worship never failed to produce gratitude, desire, and joy in my heart. I discovered the truth of King David's words, &qu
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A Really Clever Analogy About Living Your Dream

When it was my turn to share in the small group, I simply said, "I just want to serve God in a way that brings me joy and helps other people." They all nodded understandingly, and soon it was the next person's turn to speak.     That was my heart cry in 2016 in an early morning meeting with a handful of church leaders. I was a full time sixth grade teacher at that moment, and I was quite aware that it would most likely be a brief chapter in my life story. Middle school education is a noble occupation (seriously, if that's you I salute you), one that I even enjoyed at times, but I just knew it wasn't for me. Thus the comment.     I remember it vividly because it so captured the longing of that season. Four years later, now working at a church part time, it's still something I'm yearning for, something that feels closer but still just out of my reach. What was I made to do? I keep asking. It's like a windy mountain road where the going is slow and you
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He's Not a Baby in a Manger Anymore

Ah, Christmas time. That time of the year when parents lie to their children about Santa Clause and celebrities expressively sing traditional carols with no apparent acknowledgment of their deeply theological and exclusively Christocentric meaning. What could be better?    Well, maybe Baby Jesus is better. Another one of the hallmarks of this season is the celebration of the "Christmas story," of Jesus Christ being born to Mary. The truth of God becoming a human forever is, to be sure, a profound and essential part of the central gospel message. The fact that the Christmas season gives room to shine a light on this is no small thing. I'm grateful, and I think as Christians we should "make the most of every opportunity" (Colossians 4:5) to talk about what God has done.     That said, I've been thinking about the proliferation of "Baby Jesus Culture" during our Christmas weeks. Again, it is so much better than, say, Vampire and Witch Culture during
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El Gringo and los Angeles

In that moment, I've never wished more that I had paid attention in high school Spanish. Because no one in the whole room spoke English. And I was supposed to teach them.     High school Spanish...was kind of a joke to me. To the constant annoyance of my teachers, I persisted in saying every Spanish word as dry, white, and gringo-y as possible and barely put in enough effort to pass. What I did expend effort on, however, was learning Spanish cuss words and inappropriate phrases, which I even slipped into class presentations from time to time. So even though I was shocked when my teacher finally kicked me and my friend Derek out of her class halfway through my senior year, probably no one else was. We had it coming.     Fast forward x number of years, all the way to last Friday. I took a sub job for a "Spanish" class. No big deal--I've subbed for dozens of high school Spanish classes. They're full of kids that are mostly like I was (perhaps slightly more motiva
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