Posts
Quotes to Chew On: The Church vs. Religion
Category: General
Tags: Christian Life, Church, Quotes, Religious Idolatry
“It’s time for the Church to free itself from the religious holiness of the Pharisees and begin to manifest the holiness of the Kingdom. It’s time for us to realize that our calling is to…
From the Sermon Archives: Stick & String
Category: General
Tags: Identity in Christ, Sermons
Since Greg didn’t preach this last Sunday, we thought we would feature something special from the Woodland Hills archives. God’s will for us is first and foremost about who we are and not what we do….
Shouldn’t preachers rally Christians to fight political injustice?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Kingdom Living, Politics, Social Issues
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Question: My pastor has publicly supported your book The Myth of a Christian Nation. But he’s recently called on the church to take a stand against the injustice of our local government cutting funding for inner…
Quotes to Chew On: The Cross and God’s Love
Category: General
Tags: Books, Cruciform Theology
“The cross is the central way Christ images God. Christ was not an innocent third party who was punished against his will to appease the Father’s wrath. Christ is himself God, and he voluntarily took…
The One True Source
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, ReKnew
In the weeks to come, I’d like to share some thoughts on each of the nine convictions (expressed in A ReKnew Manifesto) that ReKnew seeks to promote. The ReKnew team is convinced that this “Manifesto” articulates…
Greg on Framing the Question for HELLBOUND? Documentary [Video]
Category: General
Tags: Afterlife, Heaven and Hell
Greg did an interview for the forthcoming feature documentary Hellbound? in which he explains the importance of framing the question of Hell correctly.
Watch the interview below and check out the iTunes theatrical trailer.
Responding to Von Balthasar on the Trinity and Suffering
Category: General
Tags: Apologetics, Problem of Evil, Trinity
Recently in his blog, The Dish, Andrew Sullivan pointed to an interesting article from The Other Journal called “Evil, the New Atheism, and the God of the Trinity,” written by Jacob H. Friesenhahn. One of…
Cruciform Aikido Pt 3: The Judge Who Lets Them Have It
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Judgement
We ended our last post noting that in the cross God ingeniously turned evil back on itself and triumphed over it. But what does all this teach us about the nature of divine judgment? Two things….
The Myth of Redemptive Violence
Category: General
Tags: Non-Violence
Check out Shane Claiborne’s excellent piece on the problem of violence posted yesterday on Huffington Post. Money quote: “Christian theologians have said Jesus teaches a ‘third way’ to interact with evil. We see a Jesus…
Sermon 7/22/12: The Shadow of the Cross
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Non-Violence
In his sermon this past Sunday, Greg continued his fleshing out thoughts from the previous week on how he reconciles the violent, disturbing portraits of God in the Old Testament with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ…
I have forgiven, but how do I trust again?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Christian Life, Forgiveness, Relationships
Topics: Relationships
READER: A while back, a friend of mine seriously hurt and betrayed me. After three years of not seeing one another (her choice), she humbly repented, told me she was sorry, and asked for my forgiveness. I have forgiven her and we are starting to be friends again. But now what? How do I open my heart to her again? How do I start “testing the waters” to see if I can trust again?
“…citizens of the kingdom of God need to take care to distinguish…” [Quotes]
Category: General
Tags: Politics, Quotes
“…citizens of the kingdom of God need to take care to distinguish between their core faith and values on the one hand and the particular way they politically express their faith and values on the other.”
How can prayer change God’s mind?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Christian Life, God, Open Theism, Prayer, Theology
Topics: Apologetics, Open Theism
You’ve argued that since God is all-good, he’s always doing the most he can do in every situation to bring about good. But you have also argued that prayer can change God’s mind. How are these two beliefs compatible?
Cruciform Aikido Pt 2: God-Forsaken Judgment
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Judgement
So if Jesus is the supreme revelation of what God is like, as we explained in our last post, what does that tell us about the nature of God’s judgment?
As Jesus was dying on the cross he cried out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46). This shocking cry reveals…
A ReKnew Manifesto
Category: General
Tags: ReKnew
As our curious name indicates, ReKnew exists to encourage believers and skeptics alike to re-think things they thought they already knew. We want to promote a beautiful, Jesus-looking vision of God and his kingdom. We…
God’s Shadow Activity [Sermon 7/15/12]
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Old Testament
If we believe the whole Bible is inspired, how do we reconcile the Old Testament with the self-sacrificial, enemy-loving God revealed in Jesus Christ? In this past Sunday’s sermon at Woodland Hills Church, Greg succinctly summarizes his own thoughts by echoing that of the apostle Paul: the Old Testament is a shadow of the reality which is found in Christ.
Why believe in free will? [Video]
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Free Will, Predestination
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will
In this video excerpt from his April 29, 2012 sermon tracing the Pietistic influence on Woodland Hills Church, Greg explains why they—along with John Wesley—believe that God does not control everything, but rather gives human beings free will.
“The kingdom of God…advances only by exercising power under others. It expands by manifesting the power of self-sacrificial, Calvary-like love.” [Quotes]
Category: General
Tags: Politics, Quotes
“While all the versions of the kingdom of the world acquire and exercise power over others, the kingdom of God, incarnated and modeled in the person of Jesus Christ, advances only by exercising power under others. It expands by manifesting the power of self-sacrificial, Calvary-like love.”
Are angels involved in answering prayer?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Prayer, Spiritual Warfare
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer, Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
READER: In Daniel 10 we read of an angel telling Daniel that he was delayed from giving him the answer to his prayer because of spiritual warfare going on. My question is, are angels always involved in answering our prayers?
Cruciform Aikido Pt 1: Jesus and the Violent God
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Old Testament, Violence
Note: Today, we are beginning a 4-part series on the subject of divine judgement called “Cruciform Aikido.” We will be publishing this once a week alongside Greg’s introduction to ReKnew series. When most people think of God…