Mike Friesen

It's a return to my high school Christian emo music days- Further Seems Forever, Emery, Beloved and Dead Poetic.

Or that the church hasn't always embraced a God who suffers with humanity or always believed in the rapture. This doesn't mean that pastors have to accept all these beliefs but should understand that credible Christians have embraced them and weren't heretical.

For instance: the church hasn't always been Calvinist and being an open theist or Arminian doesn't make you a heretic. Or: the church hasn't always believed in eternal conscious torment but has had moments of embracing universalism or annihilationism.

One of the big tasks for evangelical pastors will be to become students of church history and understanding that what we call orthodoxy and how we interpret a passage hasn't always been the way it is now. And, doubters and skeptics are not heretics for asking questions.

Every time I hear about violence in the middle east, the voice of Jack Van Impe and Hal Lindsey haunts my psyche.

The US is rejectingthe Christian faith not because of Jesus but because of political allegiances. As someone raised evangelical, we need to ask ourselves, "What matters more: our commitment to a political agenda or our commitment to making disciples?"

Watching pro wrestling with my wife is super fun because she thinks it's real. #aew

When I am doing counseling for non-Christians and hear the version of Christianity they inherited, I don't blame them for being atheists. The rigid, fundamentalist and unloving expression of faith we have inherited does not offer a better alternative to atheism.

When I get to heaven, I really need to ask Kid Rock what the word Bawitdaba means.

Happy mother's day to my wife. You basically are raising a man-child for a husband.

When we associate weight loss or gain with gluttony, we apply sin to evolving biology. Age, metabolism, thyroid, trauma, stress, body type all shape the sustenance of our bodies. 2k calories at 20 may maintain weight but may cause weight gain at 50. Is a 50-year-old sinning?

Why we need empathy for those losing faith. -Loss of belief in the Being that governs reality. -Fear of rejection from family, friends & a church they grew to love or rely upon. -Loss of a form of morality that guided them. Losing faith is a long disturbance of your whole life.

You know you are closer to middle-aged than young when your wife is burning through biofreeze and ibuprofen just to help you survive moving.

"The Christian understanding of punishment begins with the recognition that we are not punished by God for our sins, rather sin (itself) is our punishment." Hauerwas H/t @fitchest

You know you've become a boring adult when you brag to your friends about your massive savings on toilet paper.