You may have heard that I have “weird ideas” about the end times.  Let me explain some of my “weird ideas”.  Let’s talk about “the rapture”.If you’re new to evangelicalism, ‘the rapture’ is evangelical jargon describing a future event, an aspect of the second coming of Christ, mentioned explicitly in only one passage.  Jesus and the apostles usually associated the second coming with the resurrecti...  Read More

I’ve been seeing a lot of end times hubbub among Christians again, especially on social media.People certain that the end is fast approaching.People certain that the antichrist is somewhere now among us.People certain that the ugly things in the book of Revelation will begin any day now, or Jesus will return to “rapture” the church away any day now.I sometimes have people ask why I don’t preach th...  Read More

Evangelicals have developed a notion that we must “seek God’s perfect will”, i.e. that in every choice there is only one perfectly right decision to make that is “God’s perfect will” and if we make the wrong decision, we are “out of God’s will”.I find that notion patently absurd and practically impossible to live by.  Must I seek God’s “perfect will” about which foot to put on the floor first when...  Read More

I noticed that evangelicals felt they had to “find God’s perfect will”.  They had to find exactly the right college or exactly the right spouse or exactly the right car or home to buy, and if they made the wrong decision, they would miss “God’s perfect will” and not be in “God’s will.”During my college years I learned the theology behind this.  It was so complex and confusing that I felt it border...  Read More

I had a buddy in college who was very confidently aggressive with women.  When he saw a girl he wanted to ask out, one of his pick-up lines was “Well, HELLOOOO ‘God’s will’!” When one of his relationships got ugly and went south, I asked him if we should now refer to the girl as “Godzwilla”.  He wasn’t amused.Evangelicals, I discovered, have a whole category of jargon related to “God’s will”.  The...  Read More

-- Duty to humanity is easy compared to duty to your neighbor.-- Ron Swanson, the caricature of a conservative on "Parks & Rec" once said, "History began on July 4, 1776. Everything before that was a mistake."  The more I hear progressives on the left, the more I am convinced that they would say same thing -- except their date would be March 4, 1933 – FDR’s inauguration.-- What kind of memories wi...  Read More

If you’ve had any exposure to evangelicalism, you’ve probably seen people raising their hands or waving their hands in the air while they sing songs.  A few people at our church do that, but most do not.  So, what’s going on with that?In the ancient Near East one could “lift one’s hand(s)” to swear an oath (Gen. 14.22; Deut. 32.40) or to take action either for or against someone (2 Sam. 20.21; 1 K...  Read More

My granddaughter Lucy recently learned to wink.  She shows everyone her new skill and everyone winks back at her.  It gives everyone a chuckle.But depending where you are (and “when” you are) and depending on who is winking and who is being winked at, winking can carry very different meanings.We wink to indicate that there was irony, teasing, or an inside joke.  Winking can also be flirtatious wit...  Read More