3.06.2026

Psalm 144

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"who trains my hands for battle" I picked, here, the most triggering line from Psalm 144. Psalm 144 is a royal psalm, and it's...
3.05.2026

Satan Reconstructed: Part 5, Devil

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In Revelation 12 a great war in heaven is described: Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dra...
3.04.2026

Satan Reconstructed: Part 4, Beelzebub

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In Mark 3 Jesus performs an exorcism. Observing this, the Jewish leaders level an accusation, claiming that Jesus is able to cast out demons...
3.03.2026

Satan Reconstructed: Part 3, Lucifer

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You likely use a modern translation of the Bible. And if you do, were you to read the Bible from cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, you...
3.02.2026

Satan Reconstructed: Part 2, Satan

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Two stories from the gospels. The first is from Luke 10. The seventy-two return from their preaching efforts and report back to Jesus: “Lord...
2.27.2026

Psalm 143

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"no one alive is righteous in your sight" Church tradition identifies seven penitential psalms: Psalm 6, Psalm 32, Psalm 38, Psalm...
2.26.2026

Satan Reconstructed: Part 1, Four Names

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In 2016 I surprised some people by publishing a book about the devil and spiritual warfare. At that time, most of my work would have fit the...
2.25.2026

Where the Gospel Matters

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I've served as a prison chaplain for over fifteen years now. In many ways, I credit prison ministry with saving my faith. How so? As I...
2.24.2026

Joy Demands Transcendence: On Mental Health and Anti-Materialism

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As I've shared here many, many times before, the big point of The Shape of Joy is that transcendence is good for you. This is, in my e...
2.23.2026

Holy and Safe: On Decontamination, Atonement, and Rahner's Rule

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Defenders of penal substitutionary atonement often cite what they believe to be a knockout prooftext from Hebrews 9:22: "Without the sh...
2.20.2026

Psalm 142

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"I am very weak" Tradition describes the setting of Psalm 142 as a song David composed while hiding in a cave. This could have be...
2.19.2026

To Make the Love of God Believable: On Relational and Existential Mattering

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As regular readers will know, I share in  The Shape of Joy how psychologists have come to highlight the impact of "mattering" upo...
2.18.2026

If It's Popular It's Not Christian: Christ and Audience Capture

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I have this really simplistic discernment tool for how to determine if authentic Christianity is operative or at work in a given community,...
2.17.2026

Living in Dorito World

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So in class the other day I started comparing everything to Doritos.  Here's the heart of the analogy.  The flavor/taste sensation of um...