About Josh / This Site

My name is Josh Vajda, and I’m a Christian theologian and educator serving in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan. For a short bio, see below.

My mission is to build up the church of Jesus Christ by equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12–16), and by that I mean investing in people. My special interest is in ideas and culture. I love to think about doctrine, philosophy, how we read, how we know, and how each of these have developed over time. I love to help people think critically about the world and think faithfully about the Bible.

This website is a space for me to think out loud, to go deeper than we often go on social media or to linger longer over an idea than we often do in person. I love to write, and so this is first and foremost an outlet for that. But it’s also a repository for teaching resources. Here you can find things like sermons that I’ve preached and lecture videos I’ve made for college courses. In the future I hope to share more of the things I have already taught in other contexts and develop new resources for people to use. I’m also a musician and occasionally share some of my songwriting and performances here.

If you’re interested in my professional experience, you can check out my CV. I’ve taught college courses for many years now and have a background in curriculum design and project management.

If you’re interested in what I believe, I invite you to peruse my personal doctrinal statement.

If you want to know more about what I’m trying to do, why, and how, read on…

---

Going Deeper

My vision: I long to see the life of the church reinvigorated by learning, where every mature adult is equipped with the following:

• Biblical literacy – knowing what the Bible says and where to find it
• Doctrine – knowing what they believe about what matters most (and why)
• Critical thinking – able to evaluate ideas and arguments wherever they are found
• Mental self-discipline – willing to stretch themselves to meet challenges and say no to distractions
• Wisdom – able to use what they have learned to live well and love others well

My values: I know I personally thrive when I am learning, creating, and serving, so these are the practices I try to maintain in my own ministry. But beyond that there are key convictions that drive what I do, including:

• Church as family – church is the people, adopted by the Father
• Faith and reason – they are not opposed, but mutually reinforcing
• Tradition not traditionalism – keep the living faith of the dead, reject the dead faith of the living
• Critical appropriation of culture – take the good, leave the bad
• Local and personal – the heart of ministry is life together, not maximizing scale

My audience: I don’t have a narrowly defined audience, and I’ve decided I’m ok with that. It may be less effective, but until God leads me in some other direction I’m trying to reach four audiences with my work:

• Unbelievers and skeptics – I want to clarify what Christians actually believe and why, so that you don’t reject it for the wrong reasons. My great hope is that you would come to trust in Jesus.
• Progressives and liberals – I want to persuade you that the traditional perspective on the faith is the right one. I’m not out to defeat you, but to win you over if at all possible.
• Pastors and teachers – I want to make resources that encourage you and make your life easier.
• Everyday Christians – I want to help you grow to spiritual maturity in any way I can.

I have friends in each of these camps. While I may write more for one group than another at any given point, they are all on my heart.

What you’ll find here:

• Wanderlog – random thoughts that don’t fit anywhere else
• Bible Study – reflections on a passage of Scripture or biblical theme
• Sermons – links to sermons that I’ve preached
• Blog After Reading – book reviews
• Music – links to songs I’ve recorded

Click on the hamburger menu and enter your email address if you’d like to receive new posts in your inbox.

Other Links:

• Magnify Church (where I work)
• Cornerstone University (where I often teach)
• Dallas Theological Seminary (where I studied)