Category: Thoughts

Reform & Rebellion

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10.1.2026

I found it fascinating to learn that many Christian leaders in America prior to the American Revolution were reformers rather than rebels, meaning they were more interested in bringing about change within their respective groups than in separating from them. The massive influence of the American Revolution on American Christianity cannot be denied. The separatist impulses of the self-ascribed “Christian” movement popularized by James O’Kelly, Abner Jones, Elias Smith, and Barton W. Stone may never have come to fruition without the language of liberty, equality, and resistance that the American Revolution made so convincing.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

The Rise of Religious Consumerism

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9.30.2026

The diversity of religious movements that emerged after the American Revolution is impressive. Empowered by the distinctly American belief that all men are free to rely upon themselves rather than an established authority, ambitious people from all backgrounds and walks of life began to pioneer new religious groups, both inside and outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. Here we see the rise of the Free Will Baptists, the Mormons, and the Universalists.

“The democratic winnowing of the church produced not just pluralism but also striking diversity. The flexibility and innovation of religious organizations made it possible for an American to find an amenable group no matter what his or her preference in belief, practice, or institutional structure.”

It seems to me that this era of church history helped create what I would call “religious consumerism,” which remains a striking quality of American Christianity today. This emphasis on the churchgoer’s preferences has no doubt affected the way church leaders think about attracting new members.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

Driven By Success

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9.29.2026

The camp meeting came to define religious revivalism in America. Why? In a word, success. In the same years that British Methodist leaders were choosing to sacrifice numerical growth to preserve church discipline, American Methodism, enabled largely by ever-popular camp meetings, pursued expansion with an unquenchable zeal. Francis Asbury described American camp meetings as “fishing with a large net” and despite warnings from his British counterparts, championed them as the future of Methodism. To his point, by 1811 an estimated 400 to 500 camp meetings were being held each year.

There is no doubt that camp meetings were popular, but did they really lead men to God? I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll keep reading.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

Too Far

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9.25.2026

In recent years I have often thought that the Protestant church could use a little more Catholic influence, a little more tradition. I look around and see a landscape of shattered churches that are quick to split. It disheartens me. But as I read about the spark of these denominations in the United States, I can’t help but root for them. They were formed on core principles that feel so natural and right to me: the idea that “common” people can think for themselves, the belief that every Christian can and should interpret Scripture without the need for an official minister, and the conviction that a calling doesn’t require a theology degree. Yet here I am, a few hundred years later, wondering if we swung too far against the establishment.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

Sound Familiar?

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9.24.2026

Hatch compares revolution-era American preachers with politicians. Young, energetic, and driven by the idea that anybody — not just a trained religious elite — can inspire and lead the masses, these gifted speakers gained immense popularity and drew large audiences. It’s concerning to think that magnetic personalities might have played a larger role in steering the direction of religion in our country than the love of scripture or the commitment to obey the words of Jesus.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

Weakness

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Real community is only available to those who are willing to own their weakness.
– Mike Woodruff, The Friday Update

Is weakness The Thing?

The thing I search for—subconsciously, maybe—in a church community? People who seem weak and okay with it, who embrace it, even let others help them? (How am I supposed to get a feel for that from a Sunday service?)

The thing that, above other qualities, helps me connect with a new friend?

The thing that—when admitted and paired with desperate pleas for help—endears us to God? Isn’t that what the Lord’s Prayer is about? Give us this day our daily bread [for we cannot provide for ourselves]; Forgive us our sins [for we cannot save ourselves]; Lead us not into temptation [for we so often lead ourselves straight into the fire]?

The thing that—more than anything else—is looked down upon in the West? But what if it’s the only antidote to self-sufficiency’s poison? And what if it’s the very thing that could save our civilization from downfall?

GOD IS GOOD AND NOT ALWAYS NICE

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I used to believe that God is good, meaning that he gives me what I want. Maybe not right away, of course — I was taught that at a young age — but certainly in time, he will give me what I want. I suppose really, I thought God was nice. 

I used to think that pain and suffering must be a result of sin, somehow. I wouldn’t have verbally affirmed that notion, but somewhere deep in my heart, I believed it.

I was, and surely in some ways still am, an “American Christian.” God bless America, and if he doesn’t, well, then I guess we did something wrong.

My dad died when I was a teenager. Death didn’t fit into my faith framework, especially since my dad was a godly man. My family prayed for healing, and we believed he would live, but God didn’t give us what we wanted.

Somehow, I had missed all the parts in the Bible where people — even righteous people — endured great pain and loss. Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, Paul, and, oh yeah, Jesus!

Suddenly, I had to wrestle with God, or straight-up dump him. I chose the former, which can only be explained supernaturally. It took several years to get answers. Heck, it took several years before I found the right questions to ask! But in my pursuit, and through pain, God began to reveal more of himself to me.

I still believe that God is good, but I’ve learned that goodness is not the same thing as niceness. I’m glad I don’t believe in a nice god anymore; I believe in a good one.

There’s No Place Like Home

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I love my little copper cup that Averie gave me as an engagement gift, some nine months ago now. It feels like I’ve been drinking from it my whole life. It’s a beautiful cup: sleek, shiny rim and top half intersecting the dull and tarnished bottom half like sunlight breaking through rain clouds after a storm. And right in the middle, cut almost in half, is the simple design of a camping tent with the inscription scrawled above it: THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Even the imperfection of the apostrophe looks like a shooting star, though I’m sure it’s just a scratch. I love my perfect cup; there’s not another one like it.

My cup reminds me of war and peace, pain and joy. It seems to me a perfect personification of the tension that exists inside the human heart every day.

I know that Heaven is my home and my Earthly dwelling is only temporary, but inside my heart I build up this tent and live inside it, insulating myself from the Home I’m destined for. My cup reminds me where I belong.

I grow accustomed to the feelings of sadness, anger, and bitterness, resigning myself to them. Out of fear, I choose apathy over hope. My cup reminds me of the truth.

I feel the war waging around me and within me and I grow disheartened, wondering if good really does prevail over evil. My cup reminds me that it does.

Copper is such a beautiful metal in all its forms, for it wears its imperfections like a badge of honor, the way boys proudly flaunt their scars. It isn’t afraid of aging or of the tarnish that comes from hard work, it simply becomes more beautiful. Its patina reminds me what it is and where it has been. That is what I want to be to others: a reminder.

Remember to breathe.

Remember who you are.

Remember what you’re made for.

Remember to drink more water.

Remember to dream.

Remember to hope.

Remember that Jesus will return and make us a new home.

Remember, there’s no place like home.

What is Truth?

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As followers of Jesus, we know the importance of TRUTH. We know that Jesus is truth, that everything God has ever said is true, that the Holy Spirit leads us in truth, and that relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to walk in the truth. We also know that the world hates the truth, and that Satan is the father of lies. Perhaps one of the hardest challenges for the Christian is the task of going about sharing this truth with the unbelieving world without being smug about it. There’s nothing quite so off-putting as someone who knows something and puts you down for not knowing it.

This morning I came across a verse in John 18 that caught me off guard and led me down a rabbit hole of thought. Jesus has been brought before Pilate, not long before he is beaten and crucified, and he questions him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asks. In verse 37, Jesus responds “I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” And then comes the three-word question that surprised me so much. Pilate responds to Jesus by saying “What is truth?” 

And then he walked away.

This is one of the saddest moments I think I’ve found in the whole Bible. Historically, I’ve always felt bad for Pilate as being sympathetic to Jesus and trying to convince the Jews he wasn’t all that bad, but this verse puts him in a new light for me. How can you stand in front of the King of Truth, ask the question “what is truth?”, and then walk away?

I was looking at some commentaries on this verse online and I found this comment that struck me.

“This might be the most important question a human being can ask, and Pilate is standing in front of the ultimate answer, yet he walks away without really considering his own words.” (BibleRef article linked here: https://www.bibleref.com/John/18/John-18-38.html)

Jesus is the ultimate answer, the ultimate truth. If Pilate were really seeking an answer, he would look no further. Clearly, Pilate was not genuinely seeking. I think the same can be said for most of the world. 

Matthew 7:7 says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Romans 1:20 says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

1 Timothy 2:3-4 says “This is good, and pleases God our savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

While God is mysterious and confusing and nobody fully understands His ways, He does not make the truth hard to find. He upset history by sending Jesus to Earth, He put his Spirit inside His believers, and He commissioned us to spread the truth. There is great power in truth and one must choose to accept it or to reject it. Pilate rejected it. What will you do?

BEYOND THE EDGE

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“How far are we from the edge?” she asked me.

“What edge?” I said.

“The edge of the earth.”

“There isn’t an edge, it just goes on and on and around and around forever,” I replied.

She paused and thought for a while. I could tell she was thinking because her forehead was wrinkled and her head was tilted to the left and her eyes were studying the clouds above us. Finally she said, “well I wish there was an edge, cause I would jump off it.”

I thought this was a wonderful thing to say. I imagined a cliff that leads to nowhere, just down into nothingness, and I wondered if I would jump. Then I remembered that scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, where Reepicheep, that small but noble mouse, sailed to the edge of the sea just to see where it led. This is the very essence of adventure, I think. It all starts with an idea that defies logic, that goes against science or math, that insults the enlightened man, but that captures the mind in a way that no concept or number could, and it sparks the most incredible adventure. And what is life without adventure? 

I think following God is an adventure. Maybe that’s my favorite part of being a Christian, is that sense that I’ll never have it all figured out, that I’ll always be left with questions. For some people that might be frustrating, and it is for me too sometimes, but then I think about the edge of the world, and maybe God is beyond that cliff. Maybe that’s what heaven is, the place beyond the edge, and my whole life is leading up to that moment of death, when I finally make the leap.