09/21/2026
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
This is one in which I asked what the Road to Emmaus might look like if the two disciples were modern Christians. Take a look and also consider their commentary at the end….
Jesus appeared to two contemporary Christians on the road home from church.
They’re disappointed.
They’re angry.
They’re confused.
Maybe one says: “I don’t understand God anymore.”
And Jesus listens. And then, instead of opening the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus might say something like: “Let me show you something.” And he might begin connecting dots. Not simply: “Here is what the Bible says.”
But: “Here is the story you’ve been living inside without realizing it.”
He might say:
“You keep imagining that God wins the way human beings win.”
And then: “You think power means having more power than somebody else. You think strength means never being vulnerable. You think your enemies have to be defeated before God’s kingdom can come. You think the people who matter are the people who have succeeded. You think suffering means God has lost. You think glory comes from being above other people. But look again.”
And then he’d start telling the story.
Abraham
God’s blessing isn’t given to Abraham merely for Abraham.
“Through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Election becomes mission. Being blessed means becoming a blessing.
Israel
Israel is liberated from Egypt. But liberation isn’t: “Congratulations. You’re free. Now take care of yourselves.” They’re freed for something. Freed to become the Teacher’s Pets—an example for all the other nations of the world—to see what ethical, faithful living in honor of the one true God looks like.
A mature Christian increasingly knows what love requires when the answer isn’t obvious.
When somebody hurts me.
When someone disagrees with me.
When someone is poor.
When someone is different.
When someone has done something terrible.
When the convenient thing and the loving thing aren’t the same thing.
When justice costs me something.
When forgiveness feels impossible.
When I have to decide whether to cross the road toward somebody else’s need—or keep walking.
That’s when we grow into the calling we have in Christ Jesus.
Just a taste of this last week’s discussion (which I think went on and on for something like 47 pages!) I love having a preaching assistant. They respond to every query and every thought. Sometimes I wish they wouldn’t. Alas, that’s my problem, not AI’s.
Archived Posts
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
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In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
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They have been conquered...
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