Imitable.org

How I'm Thinking About Covid Right Now (late-December 2021)

TL;DR—Don't look at case-rates. Look at hospitalization numbers. My personal risk—and likely yours—of serious illness, hospitalization, or death due to COVID is incredibly low. More and more, COVID is becoming something that I can "live with." I'm vaccinated, boosted, and know that we can treat COVID

Mobs for Advent

My Advent Bible reading has me in Book of the Prophet Amos. Amos is the author of such gems as: For four crimes I won't hold back punishment: they have sold the innocent for silver and those in need for a pair of sandals; they crush the head of the

Does Genesis Condemn First-Born Daughters?

Genesis 1—4 tells the story of a man and a woman in relationship who have three sons. These chapters tell us a lot about human nature, family dynamics, how we relate to God, how we relate to creation, and much more. From these stories, we can make theological claims

A sheep, reminiscent of what was used at temple sacrifices.

Does God Require Bloodshed to Forgive Sins? No!

Did you get this post via email? To lessen reliance on social media, I'm going to start emailing out my blogging and posts more frequently. Not interested in such things? You can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom. "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

bible

Ruth and Ezra

Let me tell you a Bible story. In this story you'll hear why you think the Bible is backwards and xenophobic; but is more progressive than you'll ever be; why we need to listen to our Jewish cousins when we study Scripture; and why chronological Bibles suck. Ezra 9 tells

question-response

Q&R: What Study Bible Should I Get?

Short answerGet either the NIV or NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible OR the Common English Bible (CEB) Study Bible. Longer answerMy 4 go-to "committee translations" are CEB, NRSV, NIV, and NLT. One nice thing about being a Bible college and seminary student is that you get to know the real-live

The Importance of Genre

Let's pretend that I have a bookshelf with 100 books on it. Tthe only pretending here is that it's only one bookshelf, and only 100 books... Towards the top of the bookshelf I have a delightful book called A Man Called Ove. It's a fictional novel, meaning it didn't really

How to Read the Bible (Poorly) Against Single People

Genesis 2:18, "It is not good for man to be alone."Single people who are alone are not good. Genesis 2:24, "For this reason a man leaves his father and mother and embrace his wife."This is the sole Biblical model of relationships. Any other form of relationship—

Let Me Pay for Facebook

One reason I appreciate Apple and my iPhone is their dedication to user privacy. The most recent update to iOS gave users the ability to stop apps from tracking your phone usage across different apps. Facebook (and Instagram) in response is using a prompt to convince users to turn ad-tracking

Open Communion

The Table Church practices open Communion, open even to those who don't follow Christianity. When we offer Communion we say, "Anyone who seeks the grace of God is welcome to this table." Traditionally there have been 3 positions on whom is allowed to participate in Communion: Open (available to anyone

De-Reconstruction Class 3

Session 3 Class Audio Remain uncertain on purpose."As I grow older, there are more things I am less certain of; and fewer things I am more certain of." Greg Boyd "The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty." Anne Lamott "About 30% of what

De-ReConstruction Class 2—Picking and Choosing

Your Comments: Things You Want to Talk AboutBeing under / accepting / respecting spiritual authorities but what about when they’re on the other end of our splinter? Don’t want to pick or chooseHow to know what is true from the Bible when there are so many interpretations.A better understanding

On Sunday, March 14, I preached on hell...and its eventual emptying

On Sunday, March 14, I preached on hell…and its eventual emptying. I also recorded an additional 45 minutes giving a brief history of the concept of hell and an “I believe” statement about the afterlife. Links to everything below. Sermon Video and Audio The hell portion comes in the

class

De-Reconstructing Faith Class 1

Session 1 Audio What This Class Will NOT DoTell you what to believeAnswer every question you haveDo your de/reconstructing for youMake de/reconstructing any easierMake conversations with those who disagree with you less awkward/tense/painfulWhat This Class WILL DoOffer some vocabulary for what you're experiencingOffer a framework for

7 Reasons Why Male Church Leadership Should Be Canceled (According to "Plain Readings" of the Bible)

So-called plain readings of the Bible can keep those who wish to remain faithful to Scripture locked into cultural patterns of sexism, racism, nationalism, and heteronormativity that Scripture was never intended to uphold.

5 Things the Bible Does Not Say About Women

That they have one set of roles and men have another. So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue

resources

Dallas Willard Spiritual Disciplines and Formation Definitions

Download the PDF HereYou can view a full list of Dallas Willard's definitions at soulshepherding.org Spiritual Disciplines Daily "Quiet Time" as the method for spiritual growth is like trying to take a shower one drop at a time! It's inefficient. For many people their inconsistencies plague them

blog

On crying.

A bit of public journaling. Today, after 3 days of battling with DC’s gawd-awful website, I booked an appointment for a covid vaccine. I should have felt elated. But instead, I began to feel this annoyance, angst, and anger welling up within me. As I began stomping around the

In Genesis 50, Joseph is speaking to his brothers.

In Genesis 50, Joseph is speaking to his brothers. The brothers that threw Joseph in a pit and then sold him into slavery. Joseph's brothers are afraid that Joseph is going to take revenge on them. But Joseph says, No worries. And then, there's this famous word that usually gets

question-response

Question and Response: Does God punish children for their parent's sins

QuestionExodus 20:4-6 seems pretty clear that God is intentionally punishing generations for their parents’ or grandparents' sins. However, in the story of Joseph, it makes it sound like God doesn't choose bad things to happen, but God is actually choosing to redeem them. It's confusing - and even upsetting

I can be so easily tempted to measure my own knowledge, growth, and journey in relation to other people.

"Geez, why doesn't this person get it already?!" The problem with that kind of comparison, however, is that I rarely know the journey someone else has been on. That's not to say that my own journey hasn't had its own twists and turns—it has. Because of that self-knowledge, I'm

Here's how I think about Divine Providence

Here's how I think about Divine Providence: Anything good in my life is because of the loving influence of God on the world. Anything evil in my life is because I or someone else refused to cooperate with God’s loving influence. I recognize that my knowledge of good and

A Response to Alisa Childer's Video "5 Warnings Signs Your Church May Be Progressive"

I've recently become aware of Alisa Childers, who is making a career of warning people about the dangers of "Progressive Christianity." I will assume the best of her, that she genuinely believes that progressive Christianity is a danger and she has a moral responsibility to steer people away. However, she

The Creation of Hell (A Parable)

The time had come. The first human had died and had chosen to go to hell. A chief angel quietly approached God, who sat saddened and slumped on the heavenly throne. The Almighty had insisted on not putting any thought or energy into building hell. It was not part of

God is on the throne...therefore

When we say things like, "God is on the throne," and assume that must mean that God is in absolute control of every situation, we are ignoring the God that Jesus revealed to us. Yes, God is on the throne. And therefore I worship God with my life, I acknowledge