God comes a loving bed-fellow and sleeps at my side all night and close on the peep of the day, And leaves for me baskets covered with white towels bulging the house with their plenty … — Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855) One of the more interesting things I’ve read recently about the creative […]
“But I Need Those!” What Happens When A Pastor Flushes A Congregation’s Religion Pills
Have you ever wondered what would happen if a pastor, convinced of the truth of grace, actually tried what Robert Farrar Capon suggested here in The Foolishness of Preaching? I think good preachers should be like bad kids. They ought to be naughty enough to tiptoe up on dozing congregations, steal their bottles of religion […]
Cracked Actors, Self-Propulsion, and the Will of God
The second preview from our publication Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody. This one comes from the chapter on Step 3 (“made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him”), pgs 64-69: “Let me give you a truth that […]
The Cross As Moral Striving?
Bad PR dies hard. Somehow, the word got out that Christianity is about moral reform and our inner 2nd-grade, grumpy-pants teacher has been looking over our shoulders ever since. Despite the insistence of St. Paul, Luther, Calvin and a host of other Reformers, faithful laymen and preachers that we’re free in Christ, we’ve had a […]
God Does His Part and I Do Mine: The Falsehood of Semi-Pelagianism
Hey there glossary fans! This week I wanted to look at a term that sums up what may be the prevailing perspective on the human relationship with God in the world today. A term that we throw around a lot on here, and one that, at least in practice, spans almost all religions. I’m talking […]
Michael Jackson’s Most Pelagian Moments (Plus)
Our MJ-tribute soldiers on! This time with a little theology thrown in… We drop the word “Pelagian” pretty often on this blog, as well as its more devious cousin “Semi-Pelagian”, but I’m not sure we’ve ever posted a definition. According to Wikipedia (and yes, I can’t believe I’m quoting them as an authority either) Pelagianism […]
