Blogs

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?...

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....

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....

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....

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....

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....