Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. The discussion of Biblical standards versus societal standards is not a new one. These questions go back to several hundred years to the earliest Christians and they persist even today. The question is (in one way or another): how much should the culture influence the church – if at all? How much should the church influence the culture? While these questions come up often in a varying amount of situations, one place where it very frequently is discussed is the topic of gender roles. Are gender roles Biblical or social constructs? How much should these roles/exp ..read more

Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. When I think about familiar Bible stories, the story Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind. However, like a movie I haven’t seen in a while, I can recall the major plot points but the details can escape me. I know that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God. Why? It has something to do with homosexuality right? Like they were gay and that made God mad so He destroyed the cities? Imagine my surprise when I revisited the story! It has NOTHING to do with homosexuality. So what was the real sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? The Story of Sodom and Gomorrah Genesis 19 is where ..read more

Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins. According to Pew Research, in 2007, when the first Religious Landscape Study was conducted, only 12% of Black Americans said they were religiously unaffiliated — that is, atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” By the time the 2014 Landscape Study was conducted, that number had grown to 18%. In other words, young Black people are leaving the faith. Why? The reasons are certainly layered, but there is one myth out there that is rubbing young Black people the wrong way. The myth is that Christianity is a religion by and for white people. But is Christianit ..read more

Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. On Friday, July 31, Beyonce released the visual album Black is King on Disney+ and received critical acclaim. It currently has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 84% on Metacritic, and 85% on Google. While the reviews have been great, the response from some Christians has been much different. “Beyonce is demonic!” has been one of the more overwhelming responses to the visual album from a lot of black church-goers. That got me thinking, “Is Beyonce demonic?” The Basis of the Claim The imagery of Black is King features a lot of horns, masks, cowry shells, and more symboli ..read more

Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. Let Me Say This… These blog posts are usually carefully curated, thoroughly researched, and extremely well thought out. I try and make the content SEO friendly without sacrificing integrity. Hopefully, the amount of energy and effort that it takes to produce content that is theologically sound and culturally relevant is apparent. This will not be one of those carefully curated blog posts. This was supposed to be a theological essay on the spirituality of Beyonce. But sometimes you have to make a pivot. Why? Because I’m tired, frustrated, confused, disappointed ..read more

Is Being Faith Filled an Excuse to be Foolish and Irresponsible? Let me begin by acknowledging that having faith and being foolish are not necessarily mutually exclusive. A person could be doing something in complete faith that certainly looks like foolishness to the average person. Paul confirms this fact in 1 Corinthians 1:27 when he said that God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. My goal here is to look critically at a particular scripture that has been used to lull Christians into inactivity; that is Romans 4:17. I can almost quote it from memory: “…call those thing ..read more

Do Christians Have to Follow the Old Testament Law of Moses? Why Return to Bondage? January 1, 1863, saw the Emancipation of enslaved people in the South. According to the historian Eugene Genovese, about fifteen percent of enslaved people stayed with their enslavers. After God had released the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt through the miraculous intervention at the Sea of Reeds, many longed for Egypt. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we ..read more

There are Christians Who Don’t Support Black Lives Matter? We recently learned about Jonathan Isaac, a basketball player and member of the Orlando Magic in the NBA. He made recently headlines for refusing to wear a Black Lives Matter t-shirt and refusing to kneel in solidarity with his teammates during the national anthem. Prior to that, I heard about a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants named Sam Coonrod. Sam, too, made headlines for his refusal to kneel in solidarity with the other members of his team during the national anthem. While both Sam and Jonathan have the right to kneel or not kn ..read more

We live in a patriarchal society. It is one where the lives and contributions of men are valued over and above those of women. Unfortunately, this patriarchal view of society has infiltrated the church and even affects our interpretation of scripture. So what are we to do with the “problematic” passages of scripture that seem to have a negative view of women? Should women keep silent in the church? Can women be Pastors? Why does it seem like it’s the church vs. women? God & Women God’s Feminine Nature In my article “Is God Really Male?” (click to check it out), I point towards the idea th ..read more

Should Christians Respond to Injustice? In his masterful book “Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice”, Dr. Eric Mason likens racism and injustice to Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano that recently erupted. Homes and businesses were destroyed by the 2017 eruption and lava flow. However, he points out that according to geologists, the volcano has been erupting continuously since 1985! There would be an eruption, followed by a period of calm (maybe a year or so) which allows everyone to relax and forget about the devastation of the previous eruption. “The ..read more