Profundity and Absurdity
The two aging gladiators met on a makeshift wooden platform outside the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, TN. The most famous courtroom scene in American history did not even take place in a courtroom. The …
Culture
Exvangelical: Moses had horns, the Bible tells me so
Look at those horns on Moses! I teach art and art history at a religious, evangelical university. Every year, we have a fun discussion when it comes to pieces like Michelangelo’s Moses or Claus Sluter’s …
What Might The Pentecostal/Charismatic Future of Evangelicalism Mean?
I got my first taste of Spirit-filled higher life theology from the long-serving, recently deceased pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Charles Stanley. Stanley’s The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life and its accompanying sermon series were released …
Love: The Final Ingredient
Heath Veuleman’s powerful article “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” got me thinking about so many different things. One of the main issues, though, ties into some artwork I began working on in 2003. …
The Theological Ignorance of the Religious Right
Something has been bothering me for a very long time. I have been a member of various churches for more than 45 years, and each congregation would have considered itself theologically conservative. Some have been …
After the storm, opening our eyes
The sound of a train barreling over our bedroom woke us. “Do you hear that?” my wife and I asked each other simultaneously. Outside the window, the sky was illumined by lightning so frequent that …
Exvangelical: Are we the good guys?
“I thought we were the good guys.” Samantha Laruso (Mary Mouser) shares her disillusionment with her dad, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) in the first episode of season three of the Netflix series Cobra Kai. Her hopes …
Spiritual Maturation and When Kings Matter More Than Prophets
Growing up in a small Pentecostal church in rural Arkansas provided me with a biblical education that emphasized the more spectacular elements of Scripture. Fire from heaven. Giants falling. Kings rising and collapsing. The Old …
The Big God, Small God Divide at Christian Colleges
A Christian college trend There is a disturbing trend that I have noticed at Christian colleges. It is a trend that has been confirmed to me by other professors with whom I have spoken. Most …
Sorry Jesus…. I just assumed you were on drugs
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and …