Sex in the Church
From Daniel Eaton at Theologica: I know this is a touchy subject (no pun intended), but are Christians, as a whole, sexually oppressed? Recently, I came across this article on...
A Day at a Greek Orthodox Monastery
Spending another week on Patmos has been a great joy. It has occurred to me that I have not given you much of a detailed look at what it’s like to spend a day here,...
“Convert Tinted Glasses” or “Are Emergers Simply ‘Embittered Evangelicals’?”
“Converstionism.” This is one of the few marks of Evangelicalism spoken of by Evangelical historian Mark Noll. Evangelicals believe that people must experience a...
The Problem of Pastoral Depression
“Monday morning blues.” That is what it is sometimes called. Most ministers know what I am talking about even if they cannot find a safe place to admit it. It...
Why I Don’t Buy the Roman Catholic Interpretation of John 6 in Defense of Transubstantiation
Catholic apologetics is more robust today than it has been in the recent past. Since Rome has given more freedom of exploration and discover along with the encouragement for...
Not Letting Jesus Be Jesus: Some Responses to Religious Pluralism
In my last blog, I began a discussion on religious pluralism by first making observations about religious diversity. We mentioned Oprah Winfrey’s claim that there are...
Confessions: What I Hate About Ministry
“Hello, my name is Michael. I am in ministry. I am a minister. Yes, a pastor.” I am neither a pastor nor the some of a pastor. Nor am I the son of the...
God loves me, God loves me not . . .
This is an email from one of the P&P readers. I asked him if I could share this with you to try to get some help and encouragement. Michael, I read your “Leaving...
Defending the Closet Atheist
I use the word atheist to be provocative. Agnostic might be a better word. I have an acquaintance who is a closet agnostic, not wanting to disrupt his family and friends. He...