This week I had the opportunity to talk with recording artists Seth and Nirva Ready of the Freemind Podcast. We talked about Progressive Christianity and its increasing presence in the American church. They are excellent interviewers, and it was great to catch up with Nirva, who I toured with many years ago! Listen here...
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[Originally published on thegospelcoalition.org]
With recent church sex-abuse scandals, unprecedented numbers of Christian couples living together before marriage, and the #ChurchToo movement, there’s no doubt the church needs reform on sexual issues. But what kind of reform? Nadia Bolz-Weber, founder of the House for All Sinners and Saints, The New York Times bestselling author, conference speaker, and public theologian, answers this question in her latest book, Shameless: A Sexual Reformation. She argues that Christians need to abandon what the church has traditionally taught about sex and gender and to forge a new Christian sexual ethic. Endorsed by progressive heavyweights such as Rachel Held Evans, Sarah Bessey, Richard Rohr, and Austin Channing Brown, I predict this book will be wildly popular. It’s well written, funny, down to earth, and peppered with F-bombs. If someone is looking for a way to hold on to the title “Christian” while being able to freely indulge their sexual appetites in any way they believe promotes their sexual flourishing, Shameless will be their manifesto. 
[Originally published on thegospelcoation.org.]
“Oh Jesus! Jesus!” My spirit sprung to prayer with catlike reflexes as I watched my 2-year-old daughter tumble down the 15-step staircase. I stood helpless as her little body hurled toward the hardwood floor. She stood up without a scratch . . . but my soul didn’t. In that moment, I was never more aware of the wound that had been festering for months. The wound was doubt. 
When my daughter Dyllan was a toddler, I exercised quite regularly at the YMCA. (And by "exercised," I mean that I read a book on the stationary bike and pedaled as slowly as possible while I enjoyed an hour of free childcare. Not gonna lie.) One day when I picked her up from the kid's room, the childcare worker pulled out the unopened granola bar I had put in Dyllan's bag, handed it to me, and said, "We can't give this to her because it contains peanuts. We don't allow anything with peanuts into the childcare area." I admit I was a bit surprised because it wasn't something I had given much thought to. But I quickly learned that there was almost nothing parents feared more in 2010 than the dreaded peanut. 
I have some exciting news!
For almost the whole of last year, I have been buried in research. (Don't worry, that's not the exciting part. Wait for it.) I've been reading progressive and liberal books, listening to lectures and podcasts, and generally trying to immerse myself in the progressive world. I believe God has called me to write a book that will provide a biblical response to this rapidly-growing and influential movement within the church. |
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