Evan Wickham

San Diego native. Husband. Father. M.Div. Songwriter. Sometime vegan cook. Eclectic tweeter. Apprentice in the Way of Jesus with @prkhllchrch.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

"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

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

[READ FULL ESSAY]

https://t.co/SszzkuNrPW

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

I’ve been doing some honest digging the last few weeks. Started with a phone call from a friend. He was invited to lead worship at a rally on the National Mall: Rededicate250. Eight hours of prayer, preaching, and singing popular worship choruses, framed as a rededication of America to God in honor of the country’s 250th birthday. Pastors and politicians, the president among them, would give speeches to a faith-filled crowd and a global online audience.

My friend was torn. He sees the political coopting of religious songs and symbols as an obvious problem. He believes Christ will not be pressed into the service of any rival powers. On the other hand, he’s convinced the gospel belongs on every platform that will have it, and that the name of the crucified and risen Christ is not diminished by the room it’s sung in.

So my friend asked for my advice. We talked for a while.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

@JohnKolb2 @philvischer @WilliamWolfe @grok what is the "tu quoque"/whataboutism fallacy?

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

Two things.

One: pregnancy isn't donation. Donation gives something out of your body. Pregnancy is a body already sustaining a life through its normal function. Abortion stops that function actively, not passively.

Two: even if we accept the donation analogy, the law not forcing organ donation isn't a moral verdict, it's a limit on what the state enforces. A father who lets his daughter die rather than give blood is legally fine and morally indefensible. "Not legally required" ≠ "ethically permitted."

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

"Push" was shorthand for causing the dependency. Swap in "car accident," same argument. And organ donation is the wrong parallel: strangers owe each other nothing, but parents owe their kids food, shelter, rescue from danger. The question isn't whether bodily costs ever create duties. It's whether parenthood does. We already agree it does... at every other stage of a child's life.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

Bodily autonomy doesn't override a duty of care you created. If I push someone in a lake, "my body, my choice" doesn't free me from pulling them out. Even if rescue is hard. Even if my life jacket fails. Voluntary action with foreseeable risk creates obligation. (Rape is a separate question we can handle separately without pretending the 99% of cases work like the 1%.)

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

I've become such a Padres fan it's crazy.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

@Sean_McDowell Yes, especially the second half of same verse: "... and do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it." (Isaiah 8:12b)

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

Deeply moved by this prayer this morning.

Especially: “I heard your voice calling after me, beckoning me to return to you, but I could scarcely hear you over the clamor of those who hate peace.”

https://t.co/fC4sLrmEjh

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

This is so very helpful and needs to be better understood by so many. For sake of Christian unity and biblical literacy.

https://t.co/1KYS7VGBA4

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

Today I preached a sermon about walking in porneia versus walking in the light. Afterwards, as I led the church in communion, this prayer came to me. I prayed it aloud: “Lord Jesus, may our souls become so full from consuming your body that we no longer desire to consume the bodies of anyone else.”

This is my prayer for myself and my family for the rest of my life.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

(FULL ESSAY)

https://t.co/TxIctXnROO

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

Gregorio Luis Hernandez. We all called him Poppy. At 92 years old, he had a good run. You know the scene: fresh cut flowers, black dresses, folding chairs, cigarettes and teary mascara. And in this case, a mariachi band strumming Poppy’s top 40. I was asked to pluck the melody of Solamente Una Vez as the pallbearers carried the casket from the chapel to its lowering device.

In moments like these, certain questions surface hard. Where is he? Is he anywhere? Is Poppy in the ground, 6 feet under? Or is he in a place “somewhere else” called “heaven?” If so, what does that say about Poppy’s humanity? What does that say about mine? Am I a body, and no more… just flesh and blood and chemical processes? Or am I really just a soul in a body. And if so, what on earth is a soul?

As for Poppy, what did death actually do to him? And what does he have to look forward to?

The answer most Christians (and Christianized Westerners) reach for: He’s in heaven. His soul is with God. He’s at peace.

Which sounds right. Mostly right.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

https://t.co/6ISHIT5t35

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

Can Christians Be Demon Possessed? This is question #8 from this Top 10 series I’ve been working on for months.

I removed a story or two from this post because the events are still fresh and being fleshed out in real time. But I still share some, along with what I believe is the right way to think about the unseen realm, via Bible. I know this for sure: God wants his children to be well-versed in dealing with satan. And he fights dirty.

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

The night started normally enough. My wife Sandy and I were asleep in bed, early in the days of planting Park Hill Church. I was drifting from deep sleep into that liminal space where the body is heavy but the mind is strangely aware of its surroundings. That’s when I felt it.

Fear. Not the normal kind. This was thick and atmospheric like a pressure in the room concentrated on my chest. Body immobile, eyes open, fixed on the ceiling. A large, dark shape descending toward me. The closer it came, the thicker the fear. I couldn’t call out to God or my wife. I could only watch.

So far, standard fare. Sleep paralysis is common enough.

But what happened next… (read on)

https://t.co/Xm9pklDr1Z

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

This song was written by five people from different streams of Christianity. Catholic. Protestant. Anglican. Evangelical. That unity is what this final entry in this devotional is about, wrote to accompany Christ the King of Love.

https://t.co/es1ehUQuNl

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

My new single Christ the King of Love released Friday. I wrote this three-day devotional to go with it. One day at a time, for Holy Week. Starting Palm Sunday. Here's Day 1.

https://t.co/k6Gus9Irmj

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

I LOVE how this video turned out. Christ the King of Love – out now!

I wrote it with Matt Redman (Anglican), Tom Booth (Catholic), Mark Desmond (evangelical), Andrew Laubacher (Catholic).

Just in time for Holy Week. Enjoy!

https://t.co/fTWxdDDFW0

[Evan Wickham @evanwickham]

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.”