All tagged personhood

407 Anxiety—The Snake That Strangles All (4) Empathy? Exhausted!

Perhaps more than other people, Christians are susceptible to having their emotions manipulated. After all, love of neighbor is an express way to show love of God. But that beautiful attribute can be abused, primed, and played. What's happened? Well, we used to encourage compassion: feeling for the other such that one is moved to action. Today the emphasis is upon empathy: deeply sharing the feelings of the other person. I don't think it started out this way, but empathy has been so emphasized that today it can become not only exhausting but sinful. I explain the hows and whys of that possibility. Today our culture wants us to be mired in empathy and that can transpire to the point of being sinful. In my opening reflection I note different kind of Christian spiritualities: Baptisty, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, spiritual warfare, logos oriented, and affective types. I've learned from them all, but I explain what is dominating my own worldview right now. And then, in my cultural remarks I talk about pastors who shamed their congregations in various progressive ways. Have those same pastors either repented or apologized now that our culture is swinging happily back toward common sense?

371 Ref. vs. Arm. (9) Can You Lose Your Salvation?

The P of TULIP is Perseverance of the Saints. And so the question rises, "can you lose your salvation?" Just asking that question will get you kicked out of many in-home bible studies! Nevertheless, the Reformed and the Arminian Protestants answer this in ways that we note and unpack. And then me? The UU? Who takes Trinity (and so personhood, and agency, and mission, and love) as my theological foundation, what do I say? What bible verses inform my thinking? What theological commitments inform my thinking? At the show's opening I make a couple cultural reflections (because the Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of cuulture) on judging evil vs. doing evil. Which of those two is worse? I also a question provocative for contemporary Christianity, was Jesus tame? Come think and laugh with me!

206 Mybody, Yourbody, WhatsAbody?—History


The SCOTUS Obergefell ruling of 2015 left behind a massive definitional vacuum: how should personhood be defined? How is it being defined? How does that ruling spill out of what people love? What are some profound implications resulting? What is rushing in to fill the vacuum created by the Obergefell ruling? Let's think together about our bodies and personhood.

170 The Cult of the Now (10) The Spirit of Marxism

Christians are aware of the Holy Spirit and lesser spirits like angels and demons. What about impersonal, non-living, spirits that are as powerful as demons? What about spirits that live as ideas and values in people's hearts and minds? In this episode I examine the spiritual nature of Marxism by unpacking some of its history and central doctrines. I also take you behind the scenes into a private church confessional.

160 Trinity (7) Trinity: the Ethical Engine for Life

Trinitarian reality is not some esoteric doctrine, it has implications for both public and private life. Herein I give some examples of how the character of God—an eternal unity in diversity—is the ethical foundation for our own lives, for society. I also take a few moments to talk about the meaning of the public presence of the Church and why that matters. Come think and laugh with me.

156 Trinity (3) The Power of Ancient Words

"God is love" is not nearly as thick or rich as saying, "God is three persons in one essence." My point? Our words about God matter more, not less, than our words about other realities. But God as a Trinity crucifies the human intellect! So what to do? Then, what terms did the ancient Church give us that still inform us today? Why do those words matter? What is the essence of God? I also do a bit of processing the recent death of a family member.

154 The Grand Mystery: Trinity (1) What caused it to arise in history?

What caused the doctrine of the Trinity to arise in ancient history? A quest for religious marketplace advantage? Was it all just mere philosophic speculation? If the Bible doesn't come right out and say "Worship God as three who is one" then why do we? In this episode I unpack the God-at-work-in-history reasons why Christianity is resoundingly trinitarian. Come and think and laugh and sing with me!