Theology 101: “Eternal” and “infinite” are not synonymous. Many wrongly believe eternal life means we cease to be finite—in knowledge, in perception of time, and in potential for growth. Not so. Only God is infinite, not bound by time and space.

Theology 101: One of your responsibilities in your ministry is to prepare to pass it on to somebody else.

Theology 101: If the theological tradition you left was good enough to lead you to Christ and disciple you as a young believer, it’s probably good enough to not constantly attack, berate, chastise, and humiliate in order to justify your departure and make you feel better.

Me to ChatGPT: When did “view X” first appear in history? ChatGPT: 17th-18th century was the first time X appeared… etc. Me: Did this 12th century person hold to X? ChatGPT: Yes, so and so held to X.

The view outside my bedroom window the last five week. Alas, I will be back in the States in a few days and leave this behind…

Theology 101: “If, when light has arisen upon us, any one close his eyes so as not to see, into the ditch he must go.” (Melito of Sardis)

I feel like I’m in stage 3.5, where are you? 1. I’m young. 2. I’m old enough. 3. I’m not young anymore. 4. I’m getting old. 5. I’m old.

Theology 101: Those who tickle your ears with feel-good doctrines and worldly ethics don’t love you. They just want you to love them.

Theology 101: A priest (hiera) and an elder (presbyteros) are not the same thing in the New Testament. The “priesthood of all believers” means we are all priests for one another, but elders have unique authority and responsibilities among the flock.

Theology 101: Christian leaders must learn to think 4-dimensionally—not only being aware of what’s going on around them but also understanding how it got this way (the past) and where it’s going (the future).

Theology 101: “Those who hold that for them there is no difference between right and wrong force a few passages of Scripture and think they favor their own immoral opinions.” (Clement of Alexandria)

Theology 101: No writer of fiction would make up a story with six or seven characters named Mary and just as many named James. Maybe—and this is rare—we might have two same-named characters. But not three or four; and six or seven is absurd. Only real life is that messy.

Theology 101: “For if you wish to defend religion by bloodshed, and by tortures, and by guilt, it will no longer be defended, but will be polluted and profaned. For nothing is so much a matter of free-will as religion; in which, if the mind of the worshipper is disinclined to it,

Theology 101: “And finally, he who has believed that the dead shall rise again ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (for the trumpet shall sound),’ ‘shall be caught up amongst the first in the clouds to meet Christ in the air;’ he who has not believed shall

Theology 101: Nobody in the apostolic and post-apostolic early church ever had to wonder when the next communion Sunday would be. Every Sunday in the early church was communion Sunday.

Theology 101: If people have to misrepresent, selectively quote from, lie about, straw-man, lampoon, and condemn to hell godly supporters of a particular theological perspective, what does that tell you about those people?

Theology 101: In the incarnation, the Son of God took on mortal humanity; in the resurrection the Son of God was glorified with immortal humanity. He became what we are that we may become like him.

Who started saying “Welcome in,” and how can we stop it?

Theology 101: It is not healthy for Christians to gather around themselves teachers who tickle their ears—repeating indefensible opinions, confirming wrong perspectives, and legitimizing ignorant prejudices.

Theology 101: The saints will spend an eternity forever growing in knowledge of and love for an inexhaustibly knowable and loving God.