Our Sean Maguire

Over the past two weeks I have heard a lot about Joshua Harris and his departure from not only his wife, but from Christ and the Church. This story is heartbreaking to me, as is any story about someone getting divorced or leaving their faith in Jesus Christ. I read his two books nearly fifteen years ago, and they weren't life-shattering. My family taught and upheld basic Christian sexual ethics already. The main message of his books were simply nice anecdotes in support of vi

Last year the California legislature considered, and passed, a radical bill that would have made "conversion therapy" a criminal offense under their consumer fraud laws. This bill was introduced and championed by California Assemblyman Evan Low. I wrote about that bill on another forum. The idea for the bill was to silence Christians who practice "conversion therapy." The bill would have made criminal any transaction which promised to help reduce or eliminate same-sex attract

There is a movie coming out this weekend. It's called Boy Erased, and it is about "Conversion Therapy." It is an anguishing story of a boy and his parents trying desperately to overcome his "being gay." When the trailer came out a few months ago, I was immediately tagged on Facebook and asked for my response. I had to decline. What could I say in response other than, "the trailer is emotionally poignant and incredibly well put together. The story told in the trailer causes my

I had a great conversation about abortion and policy in a pizza shop today. As most of you know, I wear "LIFE" on my shirts. All the time. Everywhere. Today was no exception. And while I was with a friend who was grabbing a bite to eat at JoJo's Pizza in Richmond, it started a conversation. My friend paid for his order and waited for it to be prepared. I was looking down at a questionnaire I was reviewing and editing. Pen in hand circling words I thought should be changed, I

Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today. Marriage, that blessed arrangement, that dream within a dream. - The Impressive Clergyman Rather than a post On Marriage, this is more of a post On Marriage When it is Suggested That My Life Would Be Better With It. Note - I hope this will be the start of a longer conversation for many who read this. I am upset by comments from the well-meaning individuals who tell me that they are "praying for me to find a wife." There is

There is a conference coming up in St. Louis, Missouri, that has raised a lot of questions from my friends and co-workers. Several people over the past few days have asked me my opinion on the Revoice Conference, and have offered theirs. Ultimately I won't be able to give a great answer to these very deep questions. Others have done a much better job than I could ever hope to do in addressing the Spiritual Friendship movement, which is a large part of Revoice. Read that lengt

Last Monday I was at a memorial service for a brother I never met. He was a Deacon in my church. His name is Bill Alsworth. He was part of the family of God at Stony Point Presbyterian Church for eight years, and served as a Deacon faithfully for many of those years. He died of Leukemia, which had rendered him bedridden for the last months of his life. While he was sick, he had so many visitors from Stony Point that the staff at the hospice care facility thought he was famous

This book is filled with anecdotes which are used to teach eternal truths from Scripture. The stories don’t go in order, but are weaved together in the same way ingredients are pulled together in a meal. This book is like a great meal. It challenges me in every chapter. Do I live out radical ordinary hospitality? Surely I am excused from doing this, right? Shouldn’t I be exempt from this practice because I am a single man who rents a room and struggles with pornography addict

Have you ever wondered when Children's Church (that time on a Sunday morning when kids under a certain age are separated from their parents in the sanctuary) was invented? A satirist and Lutheran pastor tells the whole humorous story in the following video: Kidding aside, there are serious issues with Children's Church. Instead of basing my post on the opinions of the Vicar and Mr. Thompson, who will "not suffer the little children" in the satirical video, I want to share a q

This morning a woman wearing jogging pants, sneakers, and a loose top was sitting on the curb between two cars on 2nd Street in Harrisburg, PA. It was 8:40 in the morning, and I was just arriving at Planned Parenthood to sidewalk counsel there. This woman was waiting for them to open the doors. Like so many others who came for abortions that day, she was all alone. My fellow sidewalk advocate this morning was Cynthia*. She told the woman sitting on the curb about the pain tha