In James Cone’s revolutionary work, Black Theology & Black Power, Cone depicts a theological system that is truly black in its methodology and biblical in its exegetical foundation. Prior to his work, there was no theology by and for black people, and the prevailing theology of the day, a burgeoning evangelical theology, was decidedly white and colonial in its foundation and methodology. This theology originated with the fundamentalist movement and persisted through the Jesus movement...
I had the opportunity to share about some of my research on shame on the Erasing Shame podcast with DJ Chang this past week. Check it out here: http://erasingshame.com/why-its-harder-for-filipino-americans-to-talk-about-shame/
The news, once again, is not good. Migrant caravans or asylum-seekers are being tear-gassed at the border. An American Christian was killed when he attempted to evangelize to natives on the island of North Sentinel. A British Ph.D. student was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges by the UAE. (Thankfully these charges have been dropped). To top it all off, Thanksgiving was this past week and the whole of America is...
Do I still like Kanye? Sure, maybe, idk. It’s Kanye season once again, and every new interview I watch only makes me more confused. Do I like Kanye or do I hate him? You probably already know your answer. He’s a polarizing figure that makes crowds salivate at any chance of absurd drama or brand new music. He’s a household name for many different reasons, but I didn’t expect for him to become a Whitehouse-hold...
My life is a series of ridiculous, over the top, unlikely stories. I’ve confronted a neighbor on meth whose reply to me was, “The shadow people are coming.” As a kid, I was chased down by a teenager in a car who, in his own words, was hell-bent on killing us. The first time I ever got into college happened because several people decided to donate a total of about $12,000. I have an uncanny...
Self-mastery, ordered love, and self-examination are key elements to a life of character and virtue. In this post, I will unpack the myths and kernels of truth in each of these elements. Self-Mastery Self-Mastery is not akin to “finding oneself.” I heard a story of a young woman who was headed to medical school but deviated to live in Israel in a commune to “find herself” before she began at the institution. This is ridiculous but...
It is getting harder to explain the BTS phenomenon to people without sounding like the facts are being made up. Industry execs and celebrities have resorted to comparing it to Beatlemania — which sounds like an exaggeration until one witnesses ARMY in person (the name for their worldwide and fiercely devoted fan base). ARMY generates more traffic for BTS on social media than Donald Trump and Justin Bieber…. combined. Their latest album has surpassed 1...
How do we help people who are wrestling with doubts in their faith? Can we create a safe space for them to question and voice their doubts without being judged for their questions? How do we help give them this space, while also still pointing them gently back to the truth that God is real and present even when He does not feel near? These questions came to mind after I read an article on...
What is Fundamentalism? Christian fundamentalists (think R.A. Torrey, A.C. Dixon, or recently, John Piper, Norman Geisler, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Wayne Grudem, etc.) are part of the movement in Evangelicalism that originated in 1910s America. This phrase has been used to connote religious bigotry, abuse, and close-mindedness, but fundamentalists are merely Evangelicals with a complex (we will see whether this complex is merited further on). This was the branch of American Christianity that found its roots...
The ideal church is like delicious, instant coffee. It doesn’t exist. Problems in church are not only realities, they are dead certainties given the fact that all churches unavoidably involve the inconvenience we dislike most — selfish people. We know from St. Paul’s letters that even the first churches were troubled by some serious problems. And before I go any further, let me acknowledge that there are limits to what kinds of shortcomings we should...
Recent Comments