Author: Sam Paschall
In light of “The Future of Protestantism” and other discussions surrounding ecumenicism and the visible unity of the church I’d like to ask a few questions and take a stab at a few suggestions (for the sake of conversation): Was it Christ’s intent, from the beginning to have one monolithic visible institution we call the […]
As a a pastor I regularly interact with people in desperate situations, even now I agonize over a homeless family with two small children who have no where to go. They come with their stories of impossibility, tragedy, and poverty and on a shoe-string of hope ask for help. Sometimes we can help, sometimes there […]
I have always been a fan of “origins” stories, and recently there has been a glut of superhero origin stories (here, here, and here). Whether or not the movies are good, we are fascinated by the origins of our favorite characters (also by apocalyptic storylines, but that’s for another post). There is something in understanding […]
I had always thought of our loving of God and neighbor as related to God’s love the way a cue ball was related to the cue. God loved me in Christ (the moving pool cue) therefore I ought to love others (the cue ball), God’s love for me was sort of hermetically sealed off from […]
According to my previous post, my developing conviction about young adults and the church is that the church is not presenting youth with a compelling vision for the Christian life. In other words, the church isn’t failing because a lack of any discrete “young adult ministry,” its failure is more systemic than anything else. Leaving […]
I had an extended conversation today regarding the ever-troubling topic of young adults and the apparent dissonance between the church and the cliff its young adults seem to walk off annually. This conversation seems to have consumed large parts of my ministry in the church, beginning as a fresh 19 year old intern hearing the […]
This weekend I was on a mini-vacation (about which I will be posting later), and before we put our boys to sleep one night The Sandlot came on, which of course was to my great pleasure. It was one of many, Lord willing, initiatory rites my boys will experience with me on their way to […]
Mr. Strickland: I noticed your band is on the roster for the dance auditions after school today. Why even bother, McFly? You don’t have a chance. You’re too much like your old man. No McFly ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley!Marty McFly: Yeah, well, history is gonna change. Back to the Future asked […]
“I know God has forgiven me but I just can’t forgive myself.” I have sat in my office or at a coffee shop with many a soul whose despondency over their oppressive guilt was literally eating at them from the inside. The above statement or something similar to it has been, from out their condition, […]
The 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green depicts a chilling dystopian future in which humans, amongst other things, consume a product called soylent green. This small green wafer marketed as a “high energy” product is actually the processed remains of humans. Humans consuming other humans as what we might call “human resources.” It has found […]