Many years ago I found myself visiting a friend’s church in rural Michigan. It was a modest church in my denomination and the people were welcoming. There during the Sunday School hour I was bewildered to hear for the first time God’s people talking about God’s love with great fear. It was like God’s love was a trap, a mirage. The speaker was clearly angry, talking about people who want to preach God’s love. “Of course,” he said dismissively, “but we have to preach the Law first!” Heads nodded in agreement. The message was clear: God’s love is not an appropriate topic for unbelievers. They need to hear about His…

I’ve been a huge fan of Andy Stanley since I first attended Passion’s Thirsty conference as a college leader in 2002. When I hear him preach, it makes me want to preach. When I hear him talk about leadership, I’m excited to go lead. So imagine my disappointment when I was catching up with his leadership podcast yesterday and heard him tell leaders both inside and outside of the church to hire, promote, and invest in “doers” not thinkers. And lest there be any confusion, he goes on to talk about how doers are smart people, so it’s not about smart and dumb. It’s about being a smart doer, not a…

Every year since I decided to pursue academic ministry I’ve attended the ETS national conference. As a theologian, I hope to attend every year no matter what job I have. While it has its flaws, it is one of the best places for evangelical minds to come together and sharpen and encourage one another, and 3 days later I’m still riding the high of stimulating discussion. This year was my 4th ETS, and my first visit to Baltimore. My first year I visited all the papers I could on any topic that sounded interesting. Since then I’ve learned that not all papers are worth hearing (especially if they have provocative…

This post has been brewing for a while. More than once I thought I shouldn’t write it at all. But I think the time has come to share what’s been going on in my life lately since it has taken some dramatic turns over the past few months. About this time last year I was sweating through my first semester of doctoral studies, a process that should have occupied me until around 2017. But at the end of the spring semester, I dropped out. That’s right: I, Josh Vajda, am a PhD drop-out. I never announced it because I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it or…