Dear Theophilus

I couldn't find the lyrics to The Brilliance's song "Oh Gracious Light," based loosely off one of the oldest Church hymns outside of the bible, if not the oldest, "Phos Hilaron" - so here they are: O Gracious Light, so pure and bright Dispel the darkness of our hearts That by Your brightness we may know the light Incarnate Word, grant that the light Deep enkindled in our hearts May shine forth and give us divine life Dayspring of Life, true Light from light Pour into every broken heart Peace and virtue binded by the light O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed We sing Thy praises in our hearts God of heaven, Giver of all life Bring Your peace, hope, and love Bring Your peace, Gracious One O Gracious Light, so pure and bright Dispel the darkness of our hearts That by Your brightness we may know the light ------------------------------------------------------------------ In case any one wants the chords as well: V...

I have been noticing more and more this week that my friends are talking about "believing in God." Usually I think this discussion is a great thing, but lately I have been wondering if it is actually good at all. Somewhere, in the mix of all the science and philosophy, enlightenment and post-modernism, "faith" has been merged with "belief." And, to be fair, I am sure belief is a part of faith somehow. But where the sacred scriptures talk about "faith in God" they rarely mean "belief in God." My sense is that the Bible spends little to no time at all talking about belief in God. And since we have a desire to talk about religion in dichotomies, theists vs. atheists, I feel that we are missing some key aspects about faith. The simplest possible meaning for faith is trust. Let that sink in.... .... .... ... can you already feel it? "I believe in God" is radically different than "I trust God." Isn't it?  But t...

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments... They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them" - Jesus (John 14). It seems to be in vogue these days to want to talk about discipleship in the context of long-term transformation. Basically, the logic presents itself this way: as the Holy Spirit works in our lives over a long period of time, we will be better abled to love/forgive/reach/extend grace to/ give financially to - God and others. The problem: the above statement is absolutely true. The wholer we become, the holier we can become through the power of the Spirit. And for that reason we need counseling and small groups and worship and accountability partners and devotionals and prying questions and sermons. We need to grow and become whole. Our capacity at self-deception knows few bounds and our ability to be functionally broken is near limitles...

Below is something I wrote out in a discussion and thought it might be able to do some more good here as well: 2 Peter is a VERY difficult book to interpret. All scholars agree. The earth being laid bare at least means the earth survives. This stands with the creation account that the earth and creation are good and very good. But these stoichea/elements are no t good. Where the earth is refined, the elements will be destroyed/melted. Here is the Strong's parsing: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4747&t=RSV Notice Paul's use of the same word: "So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the *elemental spirits* of the universe" (Gal 4:3). Though the RSV translates it "elemental spirits" the greek is "τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου" or "ta stoicheia tou kosmou" or the elements of the world (kosmou being our word for cosmos.). Also see, "how can you turn back again to the weak and beggar...

“I know who made the environment and he’s coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV." - Mark Driscoll Prime example of why bad theology leads to bad practice. Also, great example of why he is such a polarizing figure and why we should be on the frustrated/dissatisfied side of that polarization. The part that frustrates me most about this is that even the founder of his own tradition (John Calvin) totally disagrees with this interpretation of the Petrine theology. This is a dispensationalist rendering of 2 Peter 3, not a Calvinist or Wesleyan view. 2 Peter 3:10 & 12 says, "the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed... because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?" Calvin says, "What afterwards follows, respecting the burning of heaven and earth, requires no long expl...

The University I attend held a vision clarifying contest. Students could submit their ideas for how to interpret the school's vision statement. Here is my submission - submitted hastily (sorry the flow is not obvious). This essay was awarded somewhere in the top 8 - but not 1st, 2nd, or 3rd :) It has been long believed that engaging the culture and changing the world meant taking on power and influence. This has been recently labeled "the captains of industry" model and it suggests that if only enough Christians were equipped to leadership positions in the realm of politics and business, Christians would be able to leverage enough pull for the kingdom of God to shape the culture. The allure of this idea is that it is at least partially true. If Christians become the majority deciders and main policy makers, the world will be changed. The goal, then, is to have followers of Christ become CEO’s, legislators, school board members, governors, mayors, teachers, and admi...

I wrote the below for a friend and have been really chewing on it ever since. I think if I could have any theology balance our/my American evangelicalism, it would be this smattering - with its hints of Christus Victor atonement theory, death as God's enemy, and a reclaiming of the resurrection of the body as the ultimate hope for Christianity. " I believe in the ...resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen" (Apostles' Creed). "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come" (The Nicene Creed). My understanding has only recently been developed. American Christianity tends to emphasize Jesus as the perfect sacrifice/atonement for the sin and evil in the world. But an overemphasis on this, though right, sometimes leaves out too much. This focuses too much on Jesus as divine and leaves out that Jesus is also human. A divine death and resurrection is sad, yet understandable. But Jesus as human shapes our th...