Evan Wickham

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him is no darkness whatsoever!" - the disciple who knew he was loved. #confidence #security #identity #love

Recently hung out with a Canadian Catholic priest. We were on a trip together. Me: “I’ve been curious how Catholic I can be while pastoring a nondenominational church?” Him: “Why?” Me: “I love the whole Church so much. I want to live into unity.” Him: “Aren’t you doing that already?” Me: “Yea but…” Him: “Hey, rest easy. We think we see many churches. But Jesus sees everything, and He only sees one.”

The Christian West has been at war with the Muslim world in one form or another for over a thousand years. The Crusades. Then European colonialism carving up the Middle East. Then decades of American military intervention. Through all of it, Francis stands among our great cloud of witnesses, largely ignored, holding out a different way. The Enemy loves what’s happening, titillated by the fever pitch of human-on-human hostility. And I wonder if he loves the prophetic timelines too… believers doing the math on Ezekiel 38 while thousands of Iranians buried in rubble are chalked up to a checkbox on a chart. Because as long as we’re looking up at the Rapture Ready Index™, we’re not looking across the line at the face of our neighbor. open.substack.com/pub/evanwickha…

If you’re paying attention through this three-part series, I probably know what you’re thinking: How do we know it’s actually Him? What if it’s just my wishful thinking, my dad’s voice from childhood, pop culture, political bias, or even a demon? I offer three discernment tests I’ve found helpful: First: Does it line up with Scripture? God won't inspire you to sleep with someone you're not married to. “Ah but we prayed and God gave us peace about it.” Nope. Pretty sure the Scriptures still have something to say here. God will never tell you to cheat on your taxes. Or to stop being generous. Or to leave your spouse because you’ve “fallen out of love.” Why? Because these things directly conflict with the story of Scripture and the teachings of Jesus. This is why biblical literacy is so important. A rich understanding of Scripture becomes a litmus test for what we think might be God’s voice. Without a firm grasp on the narrative of the scriptures, it will be very difficult to recognize when something contradicts it. Second... [Read Full Essay] open.substack.com/pub/evanwickha…

Last week I wrote about how God is a speaking God. Paul heard Him clearly and lived in ongoing conversation with Him. And God wants the same for us… not information download, but loving union. And this raises the obvious question: How? How does God actually speak? What does it sound like? How do we recognize it? Today I’m going to talk about seven ways God speaks. And I’m going to tell you a story about how God’s voice, which I almost ignored, stopped our family from moving to Portland at the wrong time. A decision that eventually led to the planting of Park Hill Church. open.substack.com/pub/evanwickha…

A few weeks ago, I read a book by John Eldredge called Experiencing Jesus. Really. That title felt audacious and a bit presumptuous. But the book was assigned in a group of pastor friends I was part of. So I read it. I’m very glad I did. We were to read Eldredge’s book in advance of spending a day with Eldredge himself. Our gathering had one main purpose: to learn how to experience loving union with Christ in the here and now. Now, I’m an excitable enthusiast. It’s easy for me to slip into exaggeration and hyperbole. I know this about myself. So when I tell you this was a life-changing day… I mean it in the realest sense. Non-hyperbolically life-changing. John led us in a prayer practice. Simple. Direct. Asking Jesus to make himself known. To reveal His heart to me. To receive my love for Him and to bring me into deeper union with Him. (I’ll guide you in a similar practice at the end of Part Three of this little series.) I experienced Jesus. Really. He spoke to me. Not audibly. But unmistakably and personally and specifically. I knew it was Him and recognized His voice. And I spoke back to Him. We enjoyed loving union together. And what blows my mind: This can happen anytime. open.substack.com/pub/evanwickha…

The Great Baptism Debate! For 500 years, Christians have been divided over one question: Should we baptize babies? The Credobaptist (Believer’s Baptism) Case: - Only believing adults are baptized in the New Testament - Baptism is “an outward sign of an inward reality,” so the baptizee should know what they’re doing - You raise children to become Christians, not as Christians, because a Christian is, by definition, a believer The Paedobaptist (Infant Baptism) Case: - Whole “households” were baptized in the New Testament, which would have included children - Since the Old Covenant included children (circumcision), then the New Covenant, which is greater, certainly includes them - You raise children as Christians, bringing them into the covenant community from birth Scripture doesn’t settle this definitively. (Ironically, faithful biblical scholars on both sides agree on this point.) So where do we land? Read on, my friends (and support!)… open.substack.com/pub/evanwickha…

@CovenantReform2 If you’re a believer from a different ethnic background reading this John Carpenter's response above, please know: your presence in the church isn’t dilution. It’s fulfillment of God's plan.

@evanwickham You have a blue check. You don't need to make threads. The NT doesn't say that "diversity is our strength." Veganism is dumb.

Calling diversity a weakness contradicts the New Testament. A thread. 🧵

@dalehuntington This is not the first time I've seen someone I know personally bemoan the "decreasing white population." I'm like... ok, but what is this "white population?" I'm still hung up on that.

@evanwickham It’s hard to take him seriously when he says *less.* Does he want to deport people who can’t speak English? Asking for a friend.

5. Christians may debate immigration policy or national strategy. But theologically, we cannot treat ethnic diversity as "weakness" without contradicting the story Scripture tells.

4. This multi-ethnic vision was God's from the start. God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his seed (Gen 12). The arc of redemption widens, it does not narrow into ethnocentricism.

This is a common evangelical misconception of Catholics. Fact check: Ashes ≠ fasting. The cross-shaped ash publicly symbolizes whole-body submission to Jesus Christ, from dust to dust. If that's wrong, then we should stop wearing our Christian swag t-shirts or evangelizing.

@JoshuaBarzon How it is important to ensure people DO NOT EVER interpret "Jesus' brothers" as close relatives or siblings in a culture that commonly called cousins and close relatives "brothers"?

@evanwickham Non essential ≠ not important.

@alisa_childers “Jesus believed Genesis” is not in question. The real question is whether affirming Genesis as authoritative requires flattening its genre into modern historical reportage.

This is a real historical man at a real point in history—Adam. It’s not “mytho-history,” as some apologists say in an attempt to play footsie with the world. No—this is a real man at a real point in time. - Johnny Ardavanis

Simply put: we don’t strengthen Scripture’s authority by narrowing it beyond what the text demands. We strengthen it by reading it carefully, humbly, and in community with the global church past and present.

For example: what does a “literal day” mean four days before the creation of the sun? Genesis itself invites us to slow down and pay attention to how the text is functioning. (Ironically, many young earth folks de-literalize "evening and morning" to fit their "literal" view).

Ironically, insisting that Scripture’s authority depends on one modern interpretation of Genesis 1 may itself undermine Scripture... by binding its authority to our preferred reading.