Erect, weathered, silently stalwart, lies the “rail” : the boundary between apse and chancel. It is the wooden boundary between heaven and earth, the pinnacle that acts as the liminal furniture connecting the two. Many of us miss it. We enter the church after making our way through the parking lot or courtyard, greet theContinue reading “The Rail”
Tag Archives: New Testament
Be Free in Christ, Ditch the Rules
“One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ.” –Luther And Jesus said to the masses, “Come to me all ye who are weary and heavy laden…and be introduced to my list of rules.” (Matthew 11.28)Continue reading “Be Free in Christ, Ditch the Rules”
Exchanging the Resurrection for the Soul
“I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels, taking the Gospel narrative as it stands, and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, he certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all theContinue reading “Exchanging the Resurrection for the Soul”
Christ Goes to the Movies: The Conjuring and Resurrection
Our culture is a walking contradiction. Drives me crazy. We are on board with Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, or any “professional” atheist writing today…then these same people buying the books of these methodologically inept charlatans of logic, flock to theaters to see a movie about nothing more, or less, than our fascination with the paranormalContinue reading “Christ Goes to the Movies: The Conjuring and Resurrection”
It’s called The Book of Revelation, not “Revelations”
The most popular and feared book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, suffers a thousand deaths every time someone gets this wrong. You can hear it at any coffee shop (at least in my town), church parking lot, or casual argument at work when a co-worker is trying to convince you of all theContinue reading “It’s called The Book of Revelation, not “Revelations””
Ghosts in the New Testament? Looking for Phantoms in the Gospel of Mark
INTRO With a name like ParanormalChrist, perhaps some biblical discussion on the Paranormal is in order, if nothing but to quell and satiate our fetish for paranormal activity. As has been argued in other posts, Christianity is a paranormal faith. It’s a faith that not only embodies paranormal elements in the general sense of thatContinue reading “Ghosts in the New Testament? Looking for Phantoms in the Gospel of Mark”
Sermon Pentecost 2013: Fire From the Tomb
This is a sermon I preached this past Sunday in my local Church of the Nazarene setting. My tradition has a precarious and intimate relationship to this text, especially as it concerns ideas of the holy spirit, holiness and Christian experience. As I began to look more carefully exegetically at this passage, particularly within itsContinue reading “Sermon Pentecost 2013: Fire From the Tomb”
Zizek reads the Bible: Thoughts on Incarnation
/ The incarnation is the perverse core of Christianity and the perverse core of the perverted god’s that desire the absolution of a person for the sake of their own divine egos. When the falsely innocent Christlike figure of pure suffering and sacrifice for our sake tells us: “I want nothing from you!” fails miserablyContinue reading “Zizek reads the Bible: Thoughts on Incarnation”
Easter Hope is Paranormal Hope that our Bodies Matter
ParanormalChrist’s genesis is the very ambiguous event that we call the Resurrection of Jesus. It is this singular event that has shaped the contours of faith, belief, hope and dared to challenge the norms of creation by declaring that the impossible has happened and it has happened definitively in Jesus. And this impossible event, thisContinue reading “Easter Hope is Paranormal Hope that our Bodies Matter”
Crucified God: Jesus wasn’t kidding, God really forsook him
“My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…” (Matthew 26.39) “And he took with him Peter, James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled” (Mark 14.33) “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me…And being in agony he was passionately praying and his sweat became likeContinue reading “Crucified God: Jesus wasn’t kidding, God really forsook him”
ParanormalChrist 