Michael Kruse has a good post that deals with my long quest to find out what is truly prophetic and what is just a poser. Here's a taste: The Christian Left (or progressives) hold themselves up as the antidote to this unholy alliance between the church and state. They are prophetic. Unlike conservatives who were... Continue Reading →
QMTD*
This summer the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will gather for its biennial General Assembly in Orlando. One of the items to be considered is a resolution proclaiming the denomination Open and Affirming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. A resolution is for the most part a sense of the Assembly and carries no... Continue Reading →
On Getting With the Program
Since I work for the Presbyterians, I spent some time this summer watching the live feed from the 220th General Assembly in Pittsburgh. On the penultimate day of the Assembly there was discussion on allowing ministers to be able to marry same-sex couples. It was not a surprise to see conservatives quoting scripture. In fact,... Continue Reading →
Fear of a Fundamentalist Planet
So quick, what is a Progressive Christian? I can come up with two answers. First, we are a bunch of Democrats who like to go to church and talk about God. Second, we are NOT evangelicals/fundamentalists. One of my favorite site to visit is Patheos. I tend to read from three channels: Progressive Christian, Evangelical... Continue Reading →
Some Thoughts on Politics, Partisanship and Christian Witness
As the GOP end their convention in Tampa and the Democrats get ready to gear up in Charlotte next week, I have a few thoughts about Christians and politics: We really take ourselves way to seriously. There was a time in my life when I happened to be far more vocal on where I lean... Continue Reading →
Repost:Why Theology Matters
We are going waaay back on this one to 2005. In the mail today, I recieved a mailing from the Disciples Peace Fellowship, the peace and justice caucus within my denomination, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The newsletter had a quote that struck me. It said: "No amount of theology about God and the... Continue Reading →
One More Post On Ross Douthat and Liberal Christianity
In the week or so since New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote his column on Liberal Christianity, there has been a ton of responses from Progressive Christians on the issue- most of it taking umbrage at Douthat's article. Because Douthat is a political and social conservative, many progressives easily wrote him off and saw... Continue Reading →
Me and Progressive Christianity Just Don’t Get Each Other
Can one be a Progressive Christian and be a Republican? How about a libertarian? When I was growing up, it wasn't odd for me to be evangelical and have liberal politics. It still isn't that odd, there are many liberal evangelicals running around. I've tended to see evangelicalism as far more diverse than what popular... Continue Reading →
Repost: What Does the Lord Require?
Originally posted in November of 2011. A few weeks back, I happened to be browsing the religious website Patheos and came accross a blog post by Greg Garrett called "God Commands Compassion, Not Evangelism." The title fascinated me and the excerpt was even more interesting: "Christianity is not about praying in a certain way, or... Continue Reading →
What Does It Mean to Be Prophetic, Revisited
Alan Bevere again picks up the the theme of being prophetic in a post today: I have spent some time this week in the Old Testament prophetic books. I do not find it surprising that most prophets are not accepted in their own time. Their cutting words of truth at best fall on stopped ears.... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 