Category: Beliefs
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Spiritual Christianity: Theology, Simplified
Update: Accepted as a Poster Session. Slides now available. Abstract submitted for PassionTalks 2018 on Saturday, August 11th at Convergence House of Prayer in Fremont, CA. Spiritual Christianity arose from a series of blog posts I wrote to prepare my seven-year-old daughter for baptism. I wanted her to start out…
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Anjali’s Catechism: A Childlike Invitation to Spiritual Christianity
Are you ready to: Embrace the One who created the universe as your Heavenly Father who loves us like Jesus?
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Lesson 6/6 Joy (Anjali’s Catechism)
Spiritual Maturity: Thanks God made all of us on purpose. We are happy when we obey that purpose. We become happier the better we understand and live out that purpose. We share many purposes with other people, because God made us the same: Our bodies are happy when we eat…
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Lesson 5/6 Courage (Anjali’s Catechism)
Faith: Wise Risk It would be wonderful if everyone knew how to find real happiness, glory, and relationships by believing in the same God Jesus did. However, believing in God is not learning a fact, such as: 2 + 2 = 4 Grass is green I prefer berry pie to…
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Lesson 4/6 True Love (Anjali’s Catechism)
Worship: He’s Worth It The whole point of becoming a Christian is to know and love God, ourselves, and others the way Jesus did. But what exactly is love? We use the word “love” whenever we strongly desire or value something. But there are three very different kinds of love: Happiness:…
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Lesson 3/6: The Wound (Anjali’s Catechism)
Holiness: Open to God Lots of people admire Jesus. Even those who aren’t Christians often consider him a model for how human beings should treat each other. Last time we talked about skills that help us become more like Jesus. So why doesn’t everyone practice those skills? Why do we ourselves often…
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Lesson 2/6: Growing Up (Anjali’s Catechism)
Discipleship: Make Us Like Jesus As we mentioned last time, the whole point of being a Christian is to become like Jesus: knowing God and loving others the way He did. In fact, the very word “Christian” means “little Christ.” We are supposed to be pictures of Jesus Christ, the way…
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Lesson 1/6: You and God (Anjali’s Catechism)
The Gospel: God Loves Us Like Jesus You are an amazing person. You have a lot in common with other people, but there is nobody quite like you. You have a body. Head, fingers, toes, belly button. You have a soul. You think. You feel. You want. You have a spirit.…
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Thanks: Spiritual Maturity in One Syllable (Childlike Theology)
Part 6 of 6 in the series Childlike Theology: Thanks: Spiritual Maturity Wise Risk: Faith He’s Worth It: Worship Open to God: Holiness Make Us Like Jesus: Discipleship God Loves Us Like Jesus: The Gospel
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Wise Risk: Faith in Two Syllables
Part 5 of 6 in the series Childlike Theology: The Gospel Discipleship Holiness Worship As children, we express faith in our parents by obeying them to stay safe. As adolescents, we risk danger in order to express faith in ourselves. I have come to believe that the hallmark of a…
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He’s Worth It: Worship in Three Syllables
Part 4 of 6 in the series Childlike Theology The Gospel Discipleship Holiness Discipleship is hard. It requires facing ugly truths about ourselves, letting go of coping strategies that served us well in the past, and taking responsibility for larger dysfunctions that really aren’t our fault.
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Open to God: Holiness in Four Syllables
Third in an accidental series on Childlike Theology, after the Gospel and Discipleship
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Make Us Like Jesus: Discipleship in Five Syllables
A proposed process for fully fleshing-out the Six Syllable Gospel: as part of an accidental series on Childlike Theology: Join together to ask God to make us like Jesus. Interpret everything that happens as God answering that prayer. There is no step 3.
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Rohan’s Baptismal Creed
Dear God, I confess that you love me better than I can ever love myself. Please forgive me for putting myself first instead of loving you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and my neighbor as myself. I am sorry for not listening to and obeying you, and…
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From the Kingdom to the Cross: A Confession
I think we’ve missed something. To be fair, everyone else in the gospels — the crowds, the disciples, even John the Baptist — also missed it. But that’s still no excuse. Especially since we have their example. We have forgotten the cross of Christ.
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God Loves Us Like Jesus: A Six Syllable Gospel (Childlike Theology)
[Now part 1 of 6 in a series on Childlike Theology] Since my son’s second set of seasons, I’ve sought a scalable summary of the gospel. Something simple enough to be sung by a six-year-old, yet sufficiently sophisticated to stun seminarians for centuries. Here’s my most successful statement so far: God Loves Us…
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The Preschool Gospel, Take One
Yesterday my precocious 4-year-old said he wanted to be baptized. I don’t think he’s ready yet; our church doesn’t baptize kids until they are at least seven. But, how would I know if he was ready? What is the minimum someone needs to truly understand in order to authentically embark…
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North Point’s Basic Truth Curriculum for Kids
At Catalyst One Day, Pastor Andy Stanley explained how North Point Community Church‘s Sunday School curriculum focused on hammering home a small set of basic truths at each stage of life. Surprisingly, perhaps due to the decentralized nature of North Point’s ministries, I couldn’t find them written down in…
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Partially Excerpted Conversation: Levels of Emergence
This is an expanded excerpt from the emergence discussion from the Partially Examined Life Citizen Commons. We studied the classic More is Different: Broken Symmetry and the Hierarchical Nature of Science by P.W. Anderson. Their discussion software butchered my reply, so I figured I should clean it up by reposting it…
Radically Happy 