God doesn’t hate sin; we do. We hold trespasses against one another in the spirit of revenge; God doesn’t. God is reconciling the world to God’s Self, not counting our trespasses against us, and looking for people to participate in that reconciliation. ...

My readers in Europe see one thing more clearly than we in the States do – that Americans have a gun obsession. No matter your position on gun ownership or gun control, guns are larger than life. Either they are necessary and good, delivering protection from forces of evil that can be arrayed against you without warning, or they are evil itself, the cause of all that we need protection from. I am not writin ...

I recently wrote a blog titled, “A Christian Support of Same Sex Marriage.” I posted it on Facebook and received a few favorable replies, but there was one somewhat negative response. My Facebook friend posted this: Love the sinner, hate the sin You’ve heard the statement countless times, I’m sure. It’s a cliché. This may surprise you, but I have a certain amount of respect for clichés. Phrases usually beco ...

That’s mimetic. The “Tebowing” and now “Cruzing” and “Bradying” phenomena are evidence of humanity’s mimetic nature.  As René Girard has put forth in developing the “mimetic theory,” humans are the best imitators on the planet.  We are so good at imitating, most of the time we don’t even know we are doing it.  This non-conscious imitation is how we learn from others.  Girard calls the “others” we imitate ou ...

“Give me your grinchiest look,” I said. And he did. My kids are watching the shows I grew up with.  Is it shallow to say that this is one of my greatest experiences as a parent? Birth.  And then the Grinch. I. Love. It. My Wife has this call and response thing going on with our Youngest Son. She’ll start, “You’re a mean one…” And he responds, “Mr. Grinch!” It’s one of those beautiful family moments that mak ...

Influential pastor Mark Driscoll claims that God might hate you. Does that describe the God revealed through Jesus? Adam claims that Driscoll's god is closer to the gods of Rome than the God of Jesus. Janus was a Roman god who had conflicting wills of love and hate. There is no conflicting will in the God revealed through Jesus, who loves all people. Jesus explicitly says that God loves even God's enemies. ...

Emotions have been running high since last week’s acquittal of Casey Anthony in the murder trial of her two year old daughter Caylee Anthony.  Many have lived with this case since Caylee’s murder three years ago.  The case has been a media sensation for many reasons, one being that Casey Anthony has made for a very good villain.  She is portrayed as monster of a human being – a mother who would rather party ...

King’s Hope: The Beloved Community At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love. The nonviolent resister would contend that in the struggle for human dignity, the oppressed people of the world must not succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter or indulging in hate campaigns. To retaliate in kind would do nothing but intensify the existence of hate in the universe. Along the way of life, some ...