I want to introduce you to a few videos. Perhaps this is the first time you’ve encountered some of these people. You may have never heard of them, you may decide to do some research on them and find out more. But I have found the content of these particular speakers in these videos compelling, enlightening, and interesting. I believe… Read more →
The Complexities of Sexuality, Theology, and The Church – Blog 4: Marriage pt. 2 – Sprinkle and Gushee
Welcome back. Again, as I mentioned previously, instead of offering fully fleshed out essay (either by me or by more qualified people I’m pulling from) my intention is to give you enough variety of Christian content on the matter of same-sex marriage and relationships that to give you something to chew on and discuss with friends, family, and others. Yes,… Read more →
The Complexities of Sexuality, Theology, and The Church – Blog 3: Marriage pt.1 John Stott
For the sake of time (yours and mine), moving forward I’m going to simplify some arguments but give you some examples of theologians and authors, books, articles, and videos to look at and listen to that will assist you in developing further, or perhaps changing your stance and perspective on the matter. Over the next couple blogs we’ll look… Read more →
The Complexities of Sexuality, Theology, and the Church – Blog 2: Humanness, Sin, and Sexuality
What is human sexuality anyway? I feel that for years the Church has shied away from teaching about sex and sexuality and has therefore made it a taboo subject. I believe the Church should be active in teaching what God says about sex and embrace the fact that we are humans with a sexuality. Our sexuality is part of… Read more →
The Complexities of Sexuality, Theology, and the Church – Blog 1: Intro and 3 general groupings
Sexuality (and in particular homosexuality, LGBTQI, and same sex marriage (and the Church’s stance(s) on it)) is something I’ve been asked a fair bit about over the years in ministry, and it’s something I’ve given considerable thought and theological reflection to. So, in what will be my final blog series for the Living Room, and my last chance to really… Read more →
The Good Place: Blog 5 – why we do good things pt. 2
In part 1 of this final installment on The Good Place I focused on the roots of the reasons why we do good things. I challenged that too often our motivations to live a good life are rooted in our fear of going to Hell, or our desire to be safe in Heaven instead of simply living Godly lives for… Read more →
The Good Place: Blog 5 – why we do good things pt. 1
For the last installment of this blog series I want to touch on why it is we do good, or why we try to be good, but I’ve got a lot of reflections on this and how the show touches on it as well so it’s going to be a two-parter. Every religion I can think of is predicated… Read more →
The Good Place: Blog 4 – Purgatory
What does The Good Place allude to about Purgatory? This is fun topic for me to kick around theologically, though I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s because there’s just so many questions about the afterlife, even for Christians, and such a history of a middle ground or waiting place in the Church’s history that it creates a lot… Read more →
The Good Place: Blog 3 – Changed by Grace
I want to open this blog with a question to think about before putting any of my own thoughts down. What does it say that Eleanor, while believing she’s in the Good Place, is fundamentally changed by the fact that there is a Good Place? Give it a good long think about what you make of this and… Read more →
The Good Place: Blog 2 – Grace
Let’s talk about grace and just how messed up it really is. Sunday night Lea talked about how the show works off a points system to determine how good or bad people are, which determines where they go in the afterlife. You may be like me and think, “that’s such a messed up system.” And you’d be right.… Read more →