What the Controversy Over Indiana’s RFRA Was Really About

A couple of weeks ago, Indiana passed a law entitled the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA). (Click here to read the entire text of this short bill.) In a short period between the legislature passing the bill and the governor signing it, the bill became the center of an unprecedented amount of controversy. Since I am from Indiana, I have had a front row seat in witnessing this spectacle. At first, the issue was confusing as one side told one story and the other side told a significantly different one. So who was correct? After some time and review, this controversy has become clearer to me. (In this article, I specifically attempt not to take sides in the overarching controversy. I am merely seeking to figure out what the Continue reading →

Are “Dones” a Major Warning Sign for the Church?

Not long ago Thom Schultz published an article called “The Rise of the Dones“. This article, which has received a lot of attention, is brief and doesn’t contain a lot of meat. Yet I believe Schultz is getting at something important. Unfortunately, I’m not sure he does a great job of communicating why the “dones” are leaving church and what they are doing once they leave. I also feel that “done” may be a poor term which reinforces some misconceptions.

People have been leaving church for quite some time now. There has been a significant increase (as I understand it) of people who are religiously unaffiliated. This group has been labeled “nones”, as in no religious affiliation. The terms “done” is obviously a play on this. Unfortunately, Continue reading →

Just Do Something

I’ve heard several different people say something similar recently. It’s something which I think is a good life truth. Here are the quotes:

“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” Chesterton
“Some is better than none.” Icon for Hire
“Perfect is the enemy of the good.” Voltaire

I know for myself, I want to do something great if I do it at all. I’ve recently wondered if this is part of the reason I’ve found success in writing but not in music as I had hoped. I had lofty ideas and inspirations for what I would like to do musically. Starting out, I couldn’t even get close, so I got stuck and frustrated and didn’t make much progress. With writing however, I never was particularly looking to become a writer and I didn’t really Continue reading →

Follow and Share—The Basics of Following and Sharing Jesus (Live Event)

I am teaching a one evening overview on following and sharing Jesus (a.k.a. discipleship). The focus will be on learning simple ways to share Jesus with others. It is taking place on Wednesday, March 11th at 6:45 p.m. at The Gathering in Carmel (624B S Rangeline Road, Carmel, IN 46032). My hope is that any current follower of Jesus would be able to learn something from and be inspired by this event. Further information can be found on the event’s Facebook page.

Jesus is for the People — Aaron Pelsue Band at The Vogue

Back in December I went to see the Aaron Pelsue Band (often a worship band) play at the Vogue (a local bar and music venue) along with several other hard rock bands. It would probably be difficult for me to describe the atmosphere there. The first band on the bill was a bit rougher in the sense that they were cussing a lot and the singer had a painted face. APB followed this first group. Aaron and his band are pros, so it was no surprise that they sounded good. The highlight of their set was when they played a couple of different Christmas hymns in their style of rock. Normally you’d think hymns would be out of place in a bar. But here, right before Christmas, it made perfect sense. I loved it! I mean, how cool and how appropriate?

I Continue reading →

Which Came First, God or the Bible?

The title of this article is of course a play on the well known question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” I think virtually any believer would say that God came first. The question I actually want to get to though is, “Do you believe God because of the Bible, or do you believe the Bible because of God?” As I understand it, some people say they believe in God and Jesus and what they are like, etc. because of what the Bible says. This may be a bit difficult to describe, but the idea is that they put they’re faith and belief in the Bible first, trusting that the Bible is correct. This leads them believe the things they do because of what the Bible says. Conversely, others believe in God apart from the Bible, and then subsequently Continue reading →

What If There Were No Old Testament?

What might Christianity look like if we hadn’t canonized the Hebrew scriptures? (In other words, how might Christianity be different if the Old Testament existed but weren’t in the Bible?) How much is modern Christianity influenced by an Old Testament verses New Testament perspective?

photo credit: ccsdteacher via photopin cc

A Brief History of Christianity in America

(Note: this is an abbreviated and therefore very simplified version of the history of the western church as I understand it. While I believe my general understanding to be correct, I am not an expert and may have inaccuracy in certain details.)

To begin our understanding of Christianity in America, we must go all the way back to the Roman Empire. For centuries, conquering states often pressured territories under their control to worship the Gods of the conquering state. In other words, there was one official religion of the state and if you lived in a land under its control, you were expected to practice this religion. Initially, Christianity was at odds with the Roman Empire for this reason. But around the forth and fifth centuries, Continue reading →

The Book of Job (Including Summary Outline)

It’s easy to follow God when things are good, but how do you handle life when it is difficult?

The book of Job is included among the wisdom books in old testament of the Bible. This had confused me in the past as it seemed to be recounting history. Now upon reflection, I realize that it was (I assume) understood to be a story used to teach.

The main question which the book of Job brings up is the so called “problem of pain”: why do bad things happen to good people (and good things happen to bad people)? Up until the intertestamental period (the time between the old and new testaments), the Israelites didn’t have a well developed concept of an afterlife. Specifically, they didn’t have a concept of a postmortem judgement resulting Continue reading →

Michael Knott — The Best Christian Artist You’ve Never Heard Of

I haven’t talked much about music on this blog, but I am a big fan. I’ve listened to a lot of Christians who are musicians. One man stands out in my mind as the most creative artist in “Christian” music. Unfortunately, as is often the case for the most talented artists (at least in terms of creativity), Michael Knott is an obscure name to most people. I want to take a moment here to recognize his work and share his art with you.

Knott first came to light in the early 80’s as front man of the punk band Lifesavers (a.k.a. Lifesavors). After a half dozen years, the band changed their name to L.S.U. (Lifesavers Underground) and their style to more alternative rock. In 1987, L.S.U. released the landmark album “Shaded Pain“. Though Continue reading →