Blogs

I was recently privileged to see one of my favorite bands, The Oh Hellos, in concert at the House of Blues in downtown Chicago. I love all of The Oh Hellos’ music, but one song, in particular, has remained poignant to me ever since I first heard it. The song is called “The Truth is a Cave,” and I think it provides a beautiful picture of what I’m calling “the theological journey” – the stages one goes through in one’s knowledge of God. ...

Rachel and I just got back from our very first trip to the Southwest. The main reason for the trip was to visit some good friends of ours, the Smith family, in Phoenix, AZ. Here’s a picture of the group of us together after church at Living Faith Anglican Church in Tempe, AZ, where my friend Peter Smith is the rector. The trip was a blast. It was great to catch up with the Smiths and to see their new home and church in Arizona. ...

Reading is the closest thing that human beings have to a superpower. We can learn, from other minds, from other times, just by looking at symbols on a screen or a page. But, I mean, come on. Who has enough time to read? I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a stack of books a mile high that I’d like to work my way through. Now, there’s a bunch of good advice out there about finding more time to read (see this post from Farnam Street and this post from The Art of Manliness). In fact, finding more time to read is one of the main reasons why you should learn the basics of personal productivity and time management (see my posts about productivity and time management). ...

The Problem: We All Need to Grow, But We’re Not Sure How Let’s face it: to say the very least, we Christians all have room to grow when it comes to following Jesus. None of us has “arrived.” There’s always more to learn about who God is, what God has done, and how we can join God’s mission to set the world right again. And, even if we know a bunch about those things in the previous sentence, we surely don’t always live based on that knowledge! ...

Why am I an Anglican Christian? Here are 3 reasons. 1. Anglicanism as a Refuge from Fundamentalism First, for me, Anglicanism has been a refuge from fundamentalism. Now, to be sure, we do have our own fundamentalists within the Anglican Communion! But, compared to some “ingrown enclaves” I’ve experienced in my Christian upbringing, Anglicanism has been a breath of fresh air. It has been an ecclesiological space for healing as I seek to “not throw the (gospel) baby out with the (fundamentalist) bathwater.” ...

I’ll keep this short, sweet, and to the point: I’m looking for problems that I can help solve, so I need you to rant at me in the comments. That’s right, I basically want you to complain to me in the comments section of this post. What’s causing you frustration, angst, or stress these days? What questions are you struggling to find the answers to? What obstacles are in the way of you achieving your goals? Here’s MY problem/frustration: I don’t know what problems are causing YOU the most friction! ...

Personal Productivity in Psalm 127 I love Psalm 127. Not because it makes me feel great, necessarily, but because it hits me like a ton of bricks whenever I read it (like I did last night, during evening prayer). Here’s how the Psalm opens: Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to think that my success or lack thereof completely depends on me and the intensity of my efforts. ...

We’re Expecting! In case you haven’t heard the news, my wife Rachel and I are expecting our firstborn child this August! Rachel is currently 16 weeks along, and we won’t find out the gender of the baby (whom I am affectionately calling “Lump”) for another month. The last few months have been quite busy for us since we found out Rachel is pregnant. She works full-time as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I’m a full-time Ph.D. student. We’re both actively involved in our church. Etc. etc. However, the next few months also promise to be busy as well! I’ve got a dissertation proposal to defend. We’ll be traveling for our siblings’ high school graduation. (Lord-willing and baby-waiting) we’ll both be in my sister-in-law’s wedding this Summer (I’m the officiant). And then? Then Lump makes his or her appearance! ...

This idea has been bouncing around in my head for a bit. It’s not fully-formed by any means, but I’d like to get it out there and hear what you think of it. Here it is: “Mental Models” could be a helpful model for theology. What is a “mental model”? Definition of mental models Put simply, a “mental model” is a concept used to help explain how the world works. ...

I want to share with you the following prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Study, based on Oratio S. Thomae Aquinatis ante studium, which Thomas Aquinas would pray before studying, writing, or preaching. We prayed it responsively before class (Patristic and Medieval History and Doctrine) with Dr. Piotr Malysz at Beeson Divinity School, and I’ve since turned back to this prayer often! A Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Study O God, Creator of all that is, From the treasures of Your wisdom, You have arrayed the universe with marvelous order, And now govern with skill and might. You are the true fount of light and wisdom. ...

The Problem: Studying the Bible can Quickly Feel Overwhelming Right? Even with helpful books out there like How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (that’s an affiliate link, by the way, meaning that I get a small commission at no cost to you if you end up buying the book), there are still so many potential questions to ask of any biblical text when we study it. How are we supposed to keep questions of authorship, genre, meaning, application, etc. etc. straight when we study the Bible? ...

OK, OK. I get it. Claiming that every Christian should read these 5 books is a bold claim. But, honestly, I think that these reading recommendations stand up to the scrutiny. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with just the top 5 books that a busy Christian should read if she wants to learn the essentials about: Productivity and Time Management Bible Study Theology And, I think I’ve arrived at a pretty good shortlist if I do say so myself. If you read and understand these 5 books, you’ll be well on your way. ...

Do you want to live a more meaningful and purposeful Christian life, but you feel like it’s hard enough just to get everything done on your to-do list each day? I’m right there with you! That’s why I’ve made “Get Your Act Together (Productivity and Time Management)” the first of my Steps to Find Purpose and Meaning in Life. Thankfully, I think I’ve found something that can help. I’d like to introduce you to the “Pareto Principle,” also known as “the 80/20 Rule,” the “law of the vital few,” or the “principle of factor sparsity,” if you want to get all technical about it. ...

INTRODUCTION Theological hermeneutics – human understanding and interpretation in light of the identity and acts of the triune God – faces two problematic questions that, I believe, every biblical and/or theological scholar must be prepared to address. First, should the Bible be read in some special sense as divine revelation, or should we read the Bible like any other text? And second, should biblical and theological studies be one discipline, or two? ...

Why write out a list of principles? For one thing, it’s my birthday. And, although I’m only in my twenties, I’m feeling a bit reflective. For another, I’ve just been given a copy of Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio (affiliate link). According to Dalio (ix), Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that gets you what you want out of life. They can be aplied again and again in similar situations to help you achieve your goals. ...