Growing up in the States, it tends to amaze me how we can have this tension about our cultural peculiarities. On the one hand, we’re immensely proud of being Americans and all that entails, but we also look fondly on our incomplete cultural heritage. We talk about how our ancestors are from this country or […]
A.C.E. – Accelerated Christian Education
You are about to attend a school unlike any other; it’s an education unlike any public or private school and it really deserves another word to describe it. It is Accelerated Christian Education. You walk into a room to find a series of carrels (I’m used to the word cubicle) that are designed so that […]
Ferdinand
Ferdinand’s Message: Other people try to tell you who they think you are, but living up to other’s people’s expectations has never historically been a recipe for happiness. You should be true to yourself and the rest will work itself out. There’s a good reason why the story of Ferdinand is a beloved classic – […]
God and the fullness of gender
This is something that complementarianism can miss about God, how their ideas about gender tend to create a separation. What if God is more like chocolate milk – such a completely thorough mix of male and female that there’s no point in parting one from the other?
Aging and Complementarianism
Self-reliance. Power over women. Playboy. Emotional Control. Winning. Risk-taking. Violence. Dominance. Pursuit of status. Primacy of work. Disdain for homosexuals. These eleven masculine norms thrive in youth and health, but as men age, many of them begin to show signs of negative mental health outcomes and lower positive mental health outcomes, in addition, men are […]
Giving as Good as You Get
Christianity molded me in somebody who is non-confrontational: call me names – really say something insulting, question my honor, my parentage, get down-right mean and use a few expletives – and I really have no response for that. I’m told that until I “grow a backbone” and “stand up for myself” people will just walk […]
Purity: Teaching six to nine year-olds about sex
Purity. When I think of this word – I conjure up an image of someone who is morally excellent in every way. A pure person is set apart from the dirtier facets of everyday human life. He or she will be well practiced in avoiding anything that could damage their purity and lower them to […]
The Nashville Statement and ‘noble heresies’
“Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of noble heresy …” That’s Governor Swann’s comment about piracy, but I think it applies here. For too long people have been erring by obeying the letter of the law for fear of the uncontrollable freedom the spirit of the text allows. Churches […]
The S-word.
Concerning Virginity by Ambrose (21,477 words) Of Holy Virginity (18,933 words), Of The Good of Marriage (13,792 words), Of the Good of Widowhood (11,942 words) and On Marriage and Concupiscence (40,252 words) by Augustine On Virginity (24,741 words) by Gregory of Nyssa Letter to a Young Widow (6,741 words) By John Chrysostom To His Wife […]
Jerusalem’s Council and Nashville’s Statement
I can’t help but think that this has all happened before. It was thousands of years ago in one of the more contentious capitals of Rome’s far-flung empire. A fledgling Christianity was in turmoil. Gentiles, of all people, appeared to be flocking to the faith. Some believed that they ought to be circumcised in order […]
Be Persuaded 