This resource page will be a living document, meaning that the pastoral staff will update it as we come across invaluable resources that help us think through the issues of our time and place.

It is a line of questions that reveals a faith that has been malformed, crooked, off-balance. A faith that has turned inwards on the self, making the SELF the beneficiary of all that God has done in the world.

Things often start off as religious convictions and make their way toward spiritual abuses.

“They do not sin like the Gentiles, or if they do, their sin is not so serious.” This week, we had a short teaching about the absurdity of favoritism in the church in Rome.

How did the early church handle the Bible? Which texts did they read? If they didn’t have Pauls writings, what were they reading and why?

What is Jesus trying to accomplish by asking us to love our enemies?

Is this just busy work for the Christian?

Is it just a nice sentiment?

It is not the toil of bible study, it is not the ruthless shame-filled purging of sin, it is not emotional experience or reading a thousands books. It is abiding with Jesus.

When it comes to the Ascension of Christ and how it has been taught in modern evangelicalism, there are things we often miss and things we often get wrong.

Jesus stands at the center of the history of the people of God; he becomes the entire point of Israel. He stands as the fulfillment of all that God was doing both through the people of Israel and the Torah. Their story passes through Christ, becoming Christoform, shaped by Christ, into the shape of Christ.

Did Paul really say that God uses jealousy to bring his people back to Him? Why would he say something like that?

Also, a short conversation on conversion. Click on through!

Paul says, “Look, I know you are zealous for God, but you are trying to turn people into Israelites instead of Jesus’ followers.” This is a trap that many religious people fall into; many in the modern church are trying to turn people into good Americans instead of Christlike humans (something that often requires us to be bad Americans).

In the ancient world, the term "Shepherd" was synonymous with Kings. When we talk about the "Good Shepherd," we refer to the world receiving a new king, a new shepherd…

Zeus invites you to side with the strong, the victor, the capable, the wealthy, the beautiful, the powerful. Jesus invites you to side with the weak, the oppressed, the hated, and the forgotten.

Christianity is about flourishing, not 'going to heaven'; if you believe there is a God, then that God created humanity with something very specific in mind. I believe that Jesus is what true humanity looks like, and I believe that the way that Jesus lived is also the way that all of humanity was created to live. I believe that Jesus’ way of life reflects the heart of God to all of creation and that with him, we pursue things “on earth as they are in heaven.”

The wrath of God as a concept has been twisted by powerful religious leaders to portray an unhinged God reacting with harsh, violent retribution towards anyone who commits even the tiniest infraction. This portrait of God presents someone who has no idea how to actually address evil in the world, only to destroy those who fall victim to it…

Romans is not a book about personal salvation. If we make it a book about personal salvation, then it can never actually accomplish what it was designed for: to show us how Christlikeness heals our societal divisions so that Jesus can be the Lord of all..

The role of power is not to lead or take charge, it’s not to coerce and make demands, and it’s not to drag everyone into some “great new future.” It is to listen, to understand, to serve, and to bring others to flourish.

The entirety of Paul's work was centered on one thing: bringing outsiders into the community of God's people; tearing down the boundaries of separation between insiders and outsiders so that Jesus could be the King of All, not just the Jews.

Romans 14 is a call to those among us with power and privilege to do whatever we can to offer support when the weakness of the powerless is exposed.