Grace rant...what?

The obligatory first post should always include something about me, so I am told. So here are the highlights behind the highlighted:

*I am married to the most wonderful woman in the world. We have a dog, Cosmo and a Cat, Ty.
*We live in Fort Worth - funkytown usa.
*I am an associate pastor/director of student ministries at Arborlawn UMC
*I am finishing my degree from Perkins School of Theology at SMU.
*I have every social advantage imaginable. I am white, heterosexual, male, protestant, from the United States, and an upper-middle class family.

Intellectual honesty drives my inclination to tell you these things about me. I write from a very particularized context, and one that is riddled with blind spots. My hope for something like this is that some of my blind spots will be revealed, and perhaps I can begin clearing up the fog on the windows. My other hope for this is that this will become a beacon for conversation regarding the way Christianity (Christendom?) interacts with a hurting world.

I am committed to the gospel, and not just any gospel, but the gospel of Jesus Christ - revealed most acutely in the incarnation. I am committed to people, and not just particular persons, but all people. I am committed to the church, as it is called to be the body of Christ in the hurting world. And, I am committed to a life that is better than the one each of us has now - one of peace, wholeness, and one where oppression, of all kinds, exists no more.

To further complicate the matter, I am committed to good theology - to theology that really seeks to get at the depths of who God is, what God does, and what our role is. To do anything less than put full effort into that pursuit trivializes the greatest commandment: love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. I believe that Divine revelation exists, and that it exists most acutely in the scriptures, but that God is constantly revealing divinity in the world around us. To put a methodist spin on it, I am committed to the idea that God reveals Godself in tradition, experience, and reason. I too believe that God is not done revealing, and will continue to reveal up to the end (whatever and whenever that might be).

So, take this as an invitation. Join the conversation, whatever your background is, or wherever your commitments reside. Let's talk this thing out.

Grace and Peace,

Paul G.