At the end of our conversation, Josh asked a question that I’ll try to paraphrase: “While you’re saying that people aren’t evil, are you also saying that there is something intrinsic to people that makes them do evil things?” I think that was the gist of it. I don’t think I adequately answered the question, but it gets at something …
Taking Up the Cross
Sorry about the cold last Sunday. Still learning about the building’s reaction to crazy Texas weather. So our conversation was brief, but good. I shared a little (maybe a lot) about the context of Romans. Paul is often read through the eyes of previous interpreters and, in our contemporary context, Romans is often the source of our ideas about what …
Suffering and Redemption
Because Lent is a time when we tend to talk a lot about sin, I endeavored on Sunday to explain my framework for thinking about sin. Some folks asked for a write-up, so here it is if you’re interested. The reason this alternative view is important is that sin, in the Christian mindset, is thought to be responsible for evil, …
My Understanding of Sin
Because Lent is a time when we tend to talk a lot about sin, I endeavored on Sunday to explain my framework for thinking about sin. It differs from things we might have heard growing up in a modern American Christian context, whether Catholic or Evangelical. In the spirit of this church’s emphasis on questioning and conversation, I am not …
Ripped from the Headlines
The lectionary passage this week, Luke 13:1-9, begins with two cryptic news headlines. The first, an apparent murder of Galileans worshiping in the Jerusalem Temple by Roman occupiers. The second, a tragic accident that claimed the lives of eighteen people. The question, then, is a question that we have run into a lot in Luke. Perhaps that is because it …