As If I Didn’t Love Chipotle Enough Already
I’m a bit Chipotle obsessed, I’ll admit. No kidding: given the option of going to literally any restaurant in the world, I’d pick Chipotle at least half the time. That’s a little ridiculous, I know, just as I also know that not everyone is where I’m at with them. But as I continue to read [...]
The Victory of Deep Thinking in the Elephant Room Controversy (Hopefully).
When I used to write for Christians in Context, I found myself foraying into political discussions fairly often. I was writing for that blog when Prop 8 was on the table here in California, and like many excitable bloggers, I just had to weigh in. From there I found myself writing on homosexuality, law, and [...]
Trust God Because of the Gospel, Not Today’s Circumstances
Who is left among you who saw [the temple] in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares [...]
The Goings’ On of The Devious Means
Hey friends. If you like indie rock/indie pop music, then perhaps you’ll find my band, The Devious Means, of some interest. While I try not to use this space for constant self-promotion, these days there is a lot of energy around what we are doing, so I thought I’d pass it along. First and foremost, we [...]
Next Time We Hang Out, I’ll Be Using You to Get to God
The Bible teaches that God created humans “in His image” (Gen. 1:27-28). Nearly every discussion I have ever had about the meaning and implications of this phrase emphasize one or both of the following points: (1) humans reflect something about God when they do anything good; (2) all human life has inherent value and dignity. [...]
Surprised by C. S. Lewis, Again
I just finished reading Surprised by the Joy and I was, well, surprised by just how good to me it was. I have read very little C. S. Lewis since my first couple years of college. This experience was much different than it was then, when the combination of Lewis, Tozer, and Piper (along with [...]
The Complexity and Simplicity of Social Justice
Right now I’m sitting in the newest, coolest, designer/craft coffee shop in Orange County, called Portola Coffee Lab. Go ahead, try and walk up to the counter and just ask for a cup of coffee. I dare you. Thankfully, the employees are not snobby. The woman at the counter explained to me my coffee options, [...]
An Unjustified Emphasis on Justification?
I’m preaching through Romans right now in my youth group, which means that a lot of issues related to justification and the like have been on the top of my mind. So I suppose that could be part of why I loved Tanner Gish’s post at The Two Cities* about whether or not we over-emphasize justification to [...]
Why We Should Preach Straight through Books of the Bible
Talbot professor and New Testament exegetical ninja Clint Arnold gives seven arguments in favor of ”consecutive expository preaching”: It covers a wide range of topics. It enables you to treat hard topics without being second-guessed. It helps to insure that you preach the Scripture and not yourself. Contrary to popular perception, it doesn’t have to [...]
The Many Ways To Follow STMtS and Friends
Just in case you didn’t know and you happened to care, below are the various twitter outlets for me, Glen, and the rest of the crew. ————————————- Someone Tell Me the Story: @_tellmethestory Andrew: @andrewjfaris Glen: @thesmallman Andrew’s Band: @thedeviousmeans Glen’s Podcast: @FrankthePodcast Janee Lookerse (friend of the blog and “artist of the week” contributor): [...]