On Christian Unity

“Unity” is a big topic in the UMC these days. People are worried about institutional division, and rightly so. Acts of intentional and public disobedience to the Discipline by those who have taken vows to uphold it have caused many in our denomination to ask whether a unified future is possible. Most mainline Protestant denominations…

Great New Book on Holy Communion

I’ve known Ken Loyer for well over ten years now. We overlapped in graduate school at SMU, and even though we were in different fields, we were able to have some really good conversations about the church, ministry, and Christian theology. Additionally, I’ve had the opportunity to hear him give some fine papers at the…

Renewing our Lives Through the Eucharist

I’m teaching a course in church renewal right now, and one of the topics we’re examining is renewal through the liturgy, and particularly the Eucharist (or Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, etc.). We might well consider our celebration of this sacrament one of the most important keys to the renewal of the Church. After…

Was Wesley’s Faith a Creedal Faith?

Update (4/11/15): Since I wrote this post, a much more thorough and informative piece has been written by my friend Andrew Thompson. If this topic is of interest to you, I encourage you read Andrew’s post.  A few friends of mine and I have been discussing the matter of whether or not John Wesley was committed…

Yes, we really do need atonement.

I’m going to start this post with an admission: I don’t understand atonement. I don’t believe that any of the various popular theories adequately describes the mystery of the cross. Penal substitution, moral influence, Christus Victor, the ransom theory, and others all point to elements of the atonement that we should take seriously, but none…

If Christ is not raised…

Your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. This is what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15:17. Our entire salvation depends upon the resurrection of Christ. As we enter into Holy Week, there will be a number of posts in social media about how the resurrection of Christ is a metaphor…