New book. After a few years on the road, I have written this Road Tramp Theology — Love Big or Go Home. … More Love Big or Go Home. New Book on the Inherent Nomadic Nature of the Gospel is Live!
This is the second episode looking at the subject I call The Obscene Hermeneut, and we ask whether it is possible that we are being polarized against our own neighbors. Have we begun to see evil where it does not exist? This issue seems even more of a problem only a couple years after first … More Wild Theology Flashbacks – The Obscene Hermeneut Part 2
This three part series from the Wild Theology Podcast from two years ago is where my podcast began. Of course, I had to start with something controversial. In this podcast, I extend Paul Ricouer’s concept of the Hermeneutics of Suspicion to what appears to be a growing problem in our interactions with one another. We … More Revisiting Controversial Podcast from 2 Years Ago
I’ve been a Christian since 1980, and a Pentecostal/Evangelical pastor since 1985. I’ve been a pastor on both coasts of the continental United States. First, in Carlsbad, California: a beach city in North San Diego County. Then in the infamous and beautiful New England port city of Salem, MA. I’ve ridden the waves of the … More The Diminishing Returns of the Evangelical Movement
A Brief History of 20th Century Evangelism Activities: Personal Soul-Winning Tools: The American Tract Society: At the turn of the 19th century, short gospel tracts were being distributed for a quick readable presentation of the gospel. In Boston and New York City, societies were established for the printing of gospel tracts. The two organizations merged … More Too Earthly Minded to be any Heavenly Good – Part 4c (evangelism techniques)
The Ravi Zacharias revelations, which are by no means new, bring up a topic I discussed earlier this week. I talked with Benjamin Wheeler, Megan Ann Jones Ady, and Kyle Henderson about the problems with the lack of an appropriate apology from the sexual abuse situations at the Willow Creek church and Bill Hybels. The … More Are the Ravi Zacharias Allegations part of a Continuing Story of Evangelical Cover-up?
In the first part of this series, I told the story of my own history and tension with the subjects of Christian eschatology[1] and evangelism. I am passionate about the gospel, both in its power of personal transformation and social benefit, and I became a Christian in the late stages of an evangelical apocalyptic frenzy. … More Too Earthly Minded to be any Heavenly Good (Part 2 – End Times Theologies)
Note: I have placed a number of links to descriptions of the terminology in the first couple paragraphs just in case this terminology is new to you. Sorry for getting nerdy so quickly in this post. Don’t feel too compelled to understand the intricacies perfectly. I began walking this Christian path in 1980. It was … More Too Earthly Minded to be Any Heavenly Good, Part 1
Recently, I ran a series of Facebook posts asking people to respond to a statement by Donald Trump that, “most religious leaders loved” his visit to Saint John’s Episcopal Church near the White House with it’s Bible propped photo op. The moment was shrouded in controversy, if not a bit of tear gas, as the … More How Witches and Atheists Defended My Christian Faith Against Political Corruption
We have half the nation suffering with TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) it appears. It many ways it does not look significantly different that PTSD. People have similar responses of fear in face of otherwise mundane events, inability to navigate basic social situations, depression, mood swings, and uncontrollable angry outbursts. This was not difficult to predict. … More We’re Getting Frontal Lobotomies: Trump and trauma through false proximity
I have a strange practice for following the news. I dodge right and then left, and bounce back and forth between differing opinions. Lately I feel like I am playing dodgeball while reading the daily news. Dodge right, dodge left, duck and dive: Like playing dodgeball, there’s no place to run for cover without stepping … More I See Two Americas, and I Don’t Like Either One
Alan and his wife Deb and I met at Burning Man in 2010. Since then we have rubbed shoulders a number of times, but most frequently it has been in a missional space at Burning Man. That is a minor part of this conversation. The topic at hand is Alan’s disenchantment with much of the … More Wild Theology live Podcast with Alan Hirsch on post-COVID-19 Christianity
This was my tweet on Friday April 10th. If the world order was benevolent and intelligent this would be a Sabbath year for the earth, and a jubilee year for the people. Unfortunately, the world order is seldom benevolent and only intelligent on short-term gains. The world just might be taking a Sabbath without our … More Are We in a Nature Imposed Sabbath?
This episode of the Wild Theology Podcast covers the subjects of why I believe it is important to be an enigmatic/mysterious Christian, and why I wrote the recent blog post asking if the Evangelical Church has sold it’s soul for a Trump presidency.
On occasion, I spend an inordinate amount of time on something political. This is because I feel passionately that Christians should be a model of God’s love in all aspects of life, and there a seasons when the political landscape appears to have serious spiritual ramifications. This impeachment season of President Trump has been one … More Has the Evangelical Church Sold It’s Soul for a Trump Presidency?
Burning Religion 