A New Series of Posts

I realize that I took a stick and poked a hole in a hornet's nest with my last post. There's no "undo" button for that; so I took shelter inside for a couple of weeks. I have realized that my goal is to get rid of the hornets and the hornet's nest and open my home for real community.

Today I am back outside with good protective gear and the right stuff to get rid of that thing, but that's just step one. I have many more steps ahead of me to create a truly hospitable environment for all and to create or restore relationships that will respond to my invitation to "come do life together". So today I have this post (a summary of the posts to come and my goal) and the first post (for tomorrow) as my writing goals. And I will keep them short and to the point this time!

To truly answer Paul's questions (and my Mom's questions and the questions of a few other friends who seem honestly interested in my thoughts), I need to cover A LOT of ground. For anyone who has read my blog consistently, they will recognize that I already covered most of that ground over these past 4 years. But I will again. And I also need to focus on a single audience, because my friends span such a huge range of worldviews and belief systems, and there is no way to address all of those ways of seeing all these issues. So I will focus on well-educated evangelical Christians like my Mom and the "kids" (now in their late 40s) that shared my years at Wheaton College.

The topics I will cover:

1) "A Paradigm Shift" (Tomorrow's post, answering "What is sin?" and giving the big-picture summary of all the topics listed next.)
2) What is the goal of our belief systems (and, specifically, what is MY goal and what do I believe to be God's goal)?
3) What is the role of the Bible in our lives today?
4) What is the "story" of the Bible, beginning to end?
5) What is the role of "the law" and "grace" in the life of the believer today?
6) What is the goal of sexuality and gender in the world and in the covenant community of faith?
7) How do we explain the Old Testament passages regarding homosexuality?
8) How do we explain the New Testament passages regarding homosexuality?
9) What is an appropriate ethic of gender and sexuality for me, now, in the time and culture in which I live?
10) In light of all the posts leading up to this, what do I believe we are called to do and teach about gender and sexuality?

I'll give you time to stop laughing now, before I finish this post . . . .

The thing is, we behave as if "playing telephone" with the important truths about life is what we're supposed to do, rather than something that just has consequences that are far too serious! They are so serious that we better each figure out those important truths on our own knees between us and God, after putting appropriate study and consideration into it all.

My goal isn't to pontificate on my own views and get you to agree with me. My goal is to get you to step back and think, and then invest the rest of your life into walking with God in a way in which you are in constant dialogue with the Triune God (and with all whom God brings into your life) about all these important, foundational issues that determine what you think and do and feel!

So if you're in . . . here I go.