Personal

The First Thing I Ever Wrote That I Still Have

This is so random, and I don't know who would care—but I just stumbled across the very first document I saved in what ultimately became my Dropbox/Academics folder. It was an exercise I wrote for an English class in high school. I was 16 and 3 mos. What I find...

Why My Church Has Closed

Why My Church Has Closed

I am an extremely minor public figure, sort of semi-public. Sort of like the Richard Dean Anderson of redheaded Christian YouTubers. The guy you sort of think maybe you’ve heard of, but you can’t place him. So I need to make a small semi-public statement about the...

Answer a Fool According to His Folly, or Answer Not?

Answer a Fool According to His Folly, or Answer Not?

I want to talk through a super common issue on the internet. I invite your wisdom and input; I also invite your prayer. Because I want and need—desperately need—divine wisdom for whether and how to answer all kinds of internet comments from all kinds of strangers with...

A Jot of My Thoughts on My Dissertation, a Decade On

A Jot of My Thoughts on My Dissertation, a Decade On

I basically finished my dissertation a decade ago. Paul’s Positive Religious Affections. It’s available on Kindle and print-on-demand just in case anyone wants it. In it I basically argued that Paul is meant to be a model in his affections and not just in his theology...

Help Me Help You

Help Me Help You

This blog has shifted over time to reflect the interests of its proprietor. I use it as much as a "weblog"—a journal of my own thoughts, a means of forming those thoughts—as I do anything else. I search my own blog all the time for quotes and illustrations to use in...

What is Your Position on Complementarianism and Egalitarianism?

What is Your Position on Complementarianism and Egalitarianism?

A female professor of Christian ministry just sent me a survey to fill out. I don't consider myself an expert in this area, but I certainly have tried to be responsible—this is one of those places where the battle over truth is fiercest in my generation. Here were my...

Does “By Faith We Understand” (Heb 11:3) Have It Backwards?

Does “By Faith We Understand” (Heb 11:3) Have It Backwards?

A Christian friend who struggles with doubt recently wrote me asking why I chose the name of long-time blog, byfaithweunderstand.com. Today I was thinking again about those four words “by faith we understand” and I feel a physical reaction to it. It’s hard to swallow...

The New ESV Heirloom Single Column Personal Size Bible

The New ESV Heirloom Single Column Personal Size Bible

A story in pictures. Because this new ESV Bible—the ESV Heirloom Single Column Personal Size Bible—needs only a one-word review: exquisite. Bloggers write words when none are needed, however, because the word-count of the internet is not yet full—so I will oblige with...

Have You Ever Doubted the Christian Faith?

Have You Ever Doubted the Christian Faith?

A young aspiring pastor recently asked other pastors in a Facebook group what kinds of doubts they’ve had about Christianity, and what they’ve done with those doubts. I replied… I went through a several-month period of doubt during my senior year as a Bible major at...

A Major Family Adventure

A Major Family Adventure

We visited grandparents and great grandparents and a rarely-seen uncle in Ohio over Christmas and New Years. Our Saturday-afternoon flight from Cleveland to Denver (departure scheduled for 4:37 pm) was delayed for four hours by a mechanical fault. We had to deplane...

How to Read More Books in 2020

How to Read More Books in 2020

I was asked by a friend to write this. Thirty minutes later, here it was: Watch less TV. Don't let it be your default evening activity. Love higher and better things.Don’t let social media be your default activity either. I periodically delete my Facebook app, and on...

Ask Nicely for Your Church, School, or Camp to Move away from the KJV

Ask Nicely for Your Church, School, or Camp to Move away from the KJV

There’s a beautiful Christian camp I’ve been to many times which serves my hometown crowd of more or less independent, baptistic churches. Anybody who knows me can guess which camp I’m talking about, but please don’t: what I’m about to say applies to many, many...