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God on a Mission—Freedom and Love

In this, the final installment of my missional theology series, I look to the liberation and love a missional  God provides.

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The Power of a Missional God

Now it’s time to reach for perhaps the most elusive fruit of all. It’s time to talk about the power of a missional God. We can’t ignore the power issue if we want a robust missional theology.

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God on a Mission—Jesus Wept

A robust missional theology has a Christological focus. And that focus undermines what many Christians from yesteryear assumed: God was impassible. Jesus reveals, instead, that we make a difference to God.

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God on a Mission – God ‘Wants’ to Save Us?

Missional theology offers an opportunity for sustained reflection on who God is. And it implicitly criticizes classical theologies that claimed God has no desires.

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Extra Mile Love 2012

About forty students in my university class went the extra mile to show love. Their creative efforts made a difference!

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Wesleyan Theology and Fundamentalism

The Wesleyan tradition in Christianity, with its high view of Scripture, has a fair number of people in its ranks tempted by fundamentalism. A new book should help Wesleyans resist that temptation.

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Six Word Love Notes

I challenged the students in my love class to say something meaningful they've learned about love in the course. But they had to use only six words. Here are their notes:

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God on a Mission – Overcoming the Status Quo

One of the more positive developments in contemporary theology is the renewed focus on mission. Missional theology comes in many forms, but I want to offer a form I think captures consistently the implications of saying God is on a mission.

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The Spirit as Personal and Diversely Active

The final piece in my brief argument for God’s causal role in the world builds upon my previous proposals. It emphasizes that God is personal and acts in various ways in the world.

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The Spirit as Nonintervening and Noncoercive

The question of God’s intervention in the world persists in the science-and-religion conversation. An adequate theology of the Spirit active in creation must handle this issue with care.

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The Uninsured and God

The United States Supreme Court case to decide the fate of the newly approved U.S. health care laws has me thinking about God. And I'm thinking this whole discussion suggests that God is active in creation.

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Resolving God of the Gaps

I’ve been thinking about how God, as spirit, acts in the world. One often overlooked or underemphasized notion derives from God’s omnipresence. And thinking carefully about omnipresence helps resolve facets of the God of the gaps problem.

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Two Problems for Identifying God’s Causation

Identifying the Spirit’s causal activity is difficult for many reasons. I want to note two and then show that these problems may actually be opportunities for Christians.

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Philosophy of Science and the Spirit Active in the World

Research in science and theology is chock full of philosophical presuppositions. We need to look at a few as we think about how best to talk about the Spirit’s activity in the world.

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God as Spirit in a World of Science

I’ve recently concluded that an important place to begin thinking about how God acts in our world is to think carefully about what it means to say with Jesus, “God is spirit.”

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Phony Environmental Theology

Presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, criticized the theology of Barack Obama recently, calling it “phony.” I’ve been thinking about what a legit theology might look like today.

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Books I’m Reading These Days

Too many books. Too little time. Most people I know share my predicament. But here are some books I’m reading these days…

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A Cup of Cold Water

Among the virtues Christians are called to express, compassion is among the highest. An upcoming conference titled, “A Cup of Cold Water,” encourages us to respond to God's call to be compassionate.

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My 1,000+Mile Photographing Idaho Walkabout

This summer, I’m embarking on a 1,000+mile walkabout. I’ll be photographing the wild and remote places of Idaho.

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The Bible Tells Me So

I'm happy to announce the publication of The Bible Tells Me So: Reading the Bible as Scripture. This book, which Richard Thompson and I co-edited, is now available in print form and kindle edition.

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About this website

You’ve reached the online home of Thomas Jay Oord, a professor, author, and theologian from the Pacific Northwest. Read more