The last time I saw my friend Brad Allen was on Friday, October 10, 1958, at around 2:30 p.m. on a beautiful fall afternoon in Berkeley, California. We were both second-year seminarians at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, riding our motorcycles to Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills to play a friendly game … Read more
I take the following as given: Jesus was totally human. Jesus was born a Jew, lived his life as a Jew, and died a Jew. He had nothing to do with Christianity. He was Jewish! The Jewish religious group Jesus started, Followers of the Way, was just one of over twenty Jewish denominations. Jesus spoke … Read more
(This is the second in my series of ten misconceptions in Christianity today. This post suggests that the institutional church thinks it knows who Jesus was. They don’t!) If I were to ask a pastor who Jesus was, I would receive a wide variety of answers. I would be told that he’s God or the … Read more
The Christians is a play by Lucas Hnath, presented by The Wayward Artist and first performed in 2015. It ran at Irvine United Congregational Church November 14–23, 2025. The production starred five actors who played the parts of Pastor Paul (who oversees a megachurch), his wife, his associate pastor, a church elder, and a young … Read more
Is there a God? A quick facetious answer: yes, there are millions of them, all inside people’s minds. The most popular one resembles Santa Claus. If you’re good (do what the church tells you to do), you’ll receive presents and go to heaven. If you are bad, you’ll find coal in your stocking and go … Read more
I was a White boy raised in a predominantly Black neighborhood. It was segregated, but no one ever used that word. Black people attended their Black church, school, etc. I went to my White church, school, etc. To avoid confronting racial issues, my parents sent me to a boys’ prep school that was all White … Read more
A few weeks ago, I posted about someone’s ten misconceptions regarding the church today. I felt the author lived in a dark closet and was out of touch with the real world, so I responded with my own blog post about them. I then decided to create my own list of ten misconceptions, which will … Read more
I have a confession to make: as far back as I can remember, I’ve always had a mean streak. Deep down, I want vengeance and payback. I don’t know where this desire originates, and I don’t like it, but it keeps showing up. I had a childhood friend named Alvin, who had a vivid imagination … Read more
Joshua Mhlakela is forty-three years old, lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and claims to be a pastor, but he does not have a church. He’s a good-looking young man, but I am unsure about his mental health. He says he had a visit from Jesus, who told him, “I’m coming soon.” From that dream, he … Read more
I found an article that listed the following bolded statements as being “misunderstandings” about Christianity and went on to refute them. I, however, think these “misunderstandings” are actually closer to the truth. “Christians disagree about everything.” Even within my own denomination, I disagree with most bishops and ultraconservative clergy. They believe their God lives in … Read more