Dear Theophilus

As with all things, start with agreement and praise, then discuss disagreements. Clint Eastwood’s speech: I liked that he talked about Politicians being our employees. He is right on. Puts things into perspective. I liked that he talked about not voting for people just because they are nice guys. “Hot Doggin’ it”? Really?  Clint talks about 23 million unemployed as Obama’s fault… Unemployment has been lowering almost every month for the 2.5 years. It may not be as fast as one would want, but the job is getting done. This speech is awkward and a little embarrassing. Clint is literally making up things that Obama would never say, and by things I literally mean insulting and disgusting remarks. That isn’t funny. It looks like Clint is going to fall asleep at the podium. Eastwood also said that he doesn’t like lawyers as politicians because they always weigh both sides of the issue: I guess Clint and I disagree on what it means to be a good human bei...

Nijay Gupta talks about the upcoming Shane Claiborne/ Tony Campolo book and the endorsers... Ben Witherington talks about Mormonism and Christianity and why they are not the same. AMAZING Professor of Sociology at CSU Chico, Tony Waters, talks about why Chico State is awesome and Berkley sucks. John Hay inspires peace making as a norm for Christians with recollections of Vietnam.

The goal of the Christian faith is not more independence, but less. "Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1). I saw this on campus here at Seattle Pacific University and thought it profoundly relevant: "Ours is meant to be a desperately dependent existence" God represents this in the fullest degree as example and proof. Where God is one, God is three. We bow and follow the Triune God, who exists as both-and. This model of relationship shapes everything about us. We, as one, make up the body of Christ where our selves are absorbed into the oneness of the Church. In marriage, the two become one. We are siblings, parents, friends, lovers, enemies. We exist only in relationship. Reject the lie that to be successful, to be norm...

My last few posts were about the meaning of Ephesians 1-3. You can read them here and here if you would like. For a starter on how Ephesians 1-3 could help with a discussion on Race and Church, you can read that here . But seeing that this is the word of God for the people of God in all ages, contexts, tribes, and places, how do we apply such a specific meaning to our lives and churches? First, a summary of Ephesians 1-3 may help catch us up: Summary: In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul is writing to a mostly, if not exclusively, Gentile audience. He is not writing about individual salvation, but about how Christ brings the Gentiles into God's covenant/people. This conclusion is come to from 3 major sections: Ephesians 1 - Paul talks about the work of Christ as revealing the mystery of God. Ephesians 2 - Paul talks about the cross of Christ uniting both Jew and Gentile into one body. Ephesians 3 - Paul reveals what the revelation was he received from God, tells us...

My last two posts were about the meaning of Ephesians 1-3. You can read them here and here if you would like. But seeing that this is the word of God for the people of God in all ages, contexts, tribes, and places, how do we apply such a specific meaning to our lives and churches? First, a summary of Ephesians 1-3 may help catch us up: Summary: In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul is writing to a mostly, if not exclusively, Gentile audience. He is not writing about individual salvation, but about how Christ brings the Gentiles into God's covenant/people. This conclusion is come to from 3 major sections: Ephesians 1 - Paul talks about the work of Christ as revealing the mystery of God. Ephesians 2 - Paul talks about the cross of Christ uniting both Jew and Gentile into one body. Ephesians 3 - Paul reveals what the revelation was he received from God, tells us what the mystery is that Christ reveals, and a major implication of what the gospel is: the inclusion ...

Some question arose from my first post to why and how I believed that Ephesians 1-2 (and now I am including chapter 3) is about the inclusion of the Gentiles and not about our individual salvation. Firstly I would like to say that I affirm individual salvation, I just don't find the author of Ephesians discussing the nature of our individual salvation. Secondly, this post is long and a little more heady than I intended this series to be. The next post is going to be my ideas on how to teach this text appropriately for the church in this modern context. Stay tuned. Hopefully the summary just below explains what it is I am trying to work through in this post. Summary of contents In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul is writing to a mostly, if not exclusively, Gentile audience. He is not writing about individual salvation, but about how Christ brings the Gentiles into God's covenant/people. This conclusion is come to from 3 major sections: Ephesians 1 - Paul talks about...