The Person My Mother Thinks I Am
My mother is fond of telling me, “Scot you’re David!” The David she has in mind is the biblical one. And when she conflates me and King David, I’m positive she is thinking of the …
Christianity
Between Two Worlds
I grew up on a small ranch in Northern California. My mother, who was raised in rural Tennessee and loved the land, managed the ranch and home. My father was an Appellate Court Judge in …
Dual Citizenship: What Does it Mean to be a Christian and a Citizen of the United States?
One of my Facebook friends posted a rather bizarre photo a couple of years ago. He and his sons professed a fervent evangelical Christian faith, as well as a strong dedication to the “Tea Party” …
Caring Without Credit: A Posture of Humility
A few years ago, I attended a birthday celebration for a loved one with family and friends. One of the women at the party was known to have been battling a serious case of breast …
Why Does Jesus Need a PR guy?
I teach a class called Art and Christian Faith. We talk about a lot of issues in that class that live at the intersection of art, the church, and culture more broadly. The class is …
A Call for Christians: Challenge Hell’s Native Tongue by Telling the Truth About American History
In my 7th-grade history class, I was taught that American slaves were treated well by their masters and that most of them preferred life on the plantation to freedom. This obvious lie was among several …
A Merciful God for a Complicated People
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) When this verse is presented in church, the skeptics in the room immediately wonder what happened between the God who commanded his people to …
White Jesus: Is it a Symbol of the Church’s Hate That Needs to be Toppled?
As an Artist, Arts & Religion Scholar, Christian, and Hispanic who has been vocal about racial issues, I received messages and comments from friends when Shaun King’s tweeted a few years ago, arguing that statues …
Authority: Why I Have Faith in the Bible’s Authority
I posted a simple thought about scriptural authority on Facebook the other day: “I believe in the authority of scripture. What I question is the authority of your interpretation.” This is a thought I’ve had …
Why I’m Not Tempted to Apostate
I hope this title is appreciated and that the article is appreciated at least half as much as the title. I enjoy approaching serious subjects with a casual, Kermit the Frog tea sip before I …