About

christiangeorgepicture1-300x294 In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, a character named Christian travels on pilgrimage, restlessly pursing heaven and building community along the way.

I believe Christians travel in paradox – resting in God, but restless for heaven.

We journey on pilgrimage, traveling in transition – pushed by the past, pulled by the future, yet plastered to the present.

If we are going to change the world through which we pass, we will need a map, a guide, and a community.Hearts are restless

Education:

Quick Hitters

Religious Affiliation
  • I am a Christian by conviction, younger evangelical by association, and Baptist by denomination. I appreciate Christian traditions outside my own through which God has acted mightily in history.
Activities
Interests
  • theology, preaching, art, aikido, kung fu, jazz piano/sax, cajun food, sky diving, all things Mac
Favorite Music
  • George Gershwin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, some jazz flute (Will Farrell excluded), the occasional Rachmaninov, the very occasional reggae Avatar
Favorite TV Shows
  • The Office, Heroes, Flash Forward, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, SNL, The Simpsons
Favorite Movies
  • Dumb And Dumber, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption, Into Great Silence
Favorite Books

What I Believe

Mission

Life is mission. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel” (Mark 16:15.) Historically, evangelicals have been a mission-minded people. Evangelical actually comes from the Greek word, euangelion, meaning “good news.” Ours is a mission to share God’s story with the world. To follow Jesus is a call to serve, love, and give our lives for others. This means showing mercy, charity, and compassion to the world through humility, sacrifice, and gentleness. It means being the voice of the voiceless and providing for the orphan and widow. We believe in keeping the Gospel in our social, and the social in our Gospel. We refuse to be catatonic Christians standing still in a world of falling people.

Salvation

God has provided a way for humans to experience life, peace, and reconciliation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 3:16, Romans 5:8-11.) We don’t just wait to go to heaven, we engage the world around us with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Scripture

The Bible contain the words of God, and is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 3:16.) It is the story of Christ, a swirling narrative of blood, forgiveness, and freedom.

Creed

I appreciate Christian traditions outside my own through which God has acted mightily in history. There is a practical and spiritual benefit of organizing beliefs in a coherent way. Creeds, confessions, and covenants help us understand and vocalize the Christian faith. I am sympathetic to the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, the London Baptist Confession, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Philadelphia Confession, and the Baptist Faith and Message, the Church Alliance and Federation of Churches, among others.

Mystery

Since human beings are finite creatures with finite intellects, we embrace the mystery of what we do not know. “The secret things belong to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 29:29.) In fact, the more we know, the more we know that we don’t know much at all. You know?

Intellect

We also believe that God has given us minds for the purpose of loving, worshiping, knowing, and glorifying him (Matthew 22:37.) Theology is the study of God. Just because the tomb is empty doesn’t mean our minds must be also.

Paradox

Christians live in paradox. We are resident aliens and anchoritic pilgrims. We believe in a God who is visible and invisible, transcendent and immanent. We’re called to be in the world but not of the world.

Disciplines

Spiritual disciplines heighten our awareness of God’s presence in our lives. They form us, reform us, and transform us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Ecumenism

We believe in unity through diversity. There are many limbs in the body of Christ. We write our essentials in Sharpie, our non-essentials in pencil, and everything in charitable calligraphy.

Excellence

We believe that everything we do should be done in a spirit of excellence for the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31.)

If you have any questions, please email me.