Faith is something that you are not supposed to mess with. It’s fixed. Its propositions are anchored in history. You accept them and you’re “in.” Reject them and you’re “out.” Question them and you’re a problem. How those things are understood have undergone some changes through the centuries. Some faiths… Continue reading
As any student taking a test will tell you, some questions are far more answerable than others. And any teacher will tell you, some answers are a better than others. It seems almost any answer we could give to a very difficult question, could be followed by a, “Yeah, but what about…”.… Continue reading
Back in the day, this question would have seemed absurd to me, but not anymore. Millions of people are indeed holding onto their faith without being a part of the church, more all the time. But what does it look like when we don’t outsource our spiritual expression to an… Continue reading
What have you got against religion? Religion has a lot of unintended consequences that are very unlike Jesus. It becomes about who is “in” and who is “out.” Therefore, it breeds pride among those who have the “right” doctrinal beliefs. It becomes a brand that you wear; protestant catholic, baptist,… Continue reading
Q: Why did you write An Irreligious Faith? GH: I kind of had to write it because these thoughts had been swirling around in my head for a few years. I had written things here and there that needed to be put together in a coherent fashion. After going through… Continue reading
Even during my last few years as pastor, it seemed to me we had the wrong goal for the Christian life. My Charismatic friends seemed to think it was all about powerful manifestations of God. Speaking in tongues, prophecies, and healings were all the rage. For evangelicals, it seemed to… Continue reading
Why is “customer service” so often the worse possible place on earth to receive decent service? Why are we allowing our technology to cause us to avoid having a real, live conversation with another human being? Why are the very best moments in life usually unplanned? Why is there such… Continue reading
