Revival and Renewal

The Work of Casey Dwyer

  • Preparing Youth in a Pandemic World

    What we’re experiencing culturally right now is, parents are awakening to the reality of the world that their kids are inheriting. And there’s concern about it, and I think rightfully so… probably the greatest concern is we’re preparing kids for lives they are not going to lead. And we are not preparing kids for the Continue reading

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  • Sex and “Purity Culture”

    How One Youth Pastor Teaches Sexuality to Youth About two years ago, I met with most of the parents of our youth at our church. The reason I’d gathered them was because of our upcoming youth group series on sexuality, entitled God and My Sexuality. I knew there’d be questions, but I also knew the situation was Continue reading

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  • Growing in Virtue in 2021

    A Yearly Disappointment It is estimated that at least fifty percent of people in the US (and that means you too) will be living with new, stringent rules by Friday (New Year’s Day). Statistically, your new rules for life probably sound something like this: eat healthier or lose weight; exercise more; save money or stop Continue reading

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  • The Seven Virtues for Young Pastors: Prudence

    Tuesdays are my dread-days. It is not because I do not like my job (I do, actually). But on Tuesdays I come into the office feeling heavy. Sunday has taken its toll, and now I roll toward the next one while trying to work up the steam to also plan ahead, analyze what worked last Continue reading

  • The Seven Virtues for Young Pastors

    Part One: A Crucible for Godliness A while ago, I became increasingly interested in the ancient Christian concept of the seven virtues, that is, those seven “practices of excellence” that exemplify the Christian positive moral vision. These seven virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, faith, hope, and love) have a varied history and varied applications, but Continue reading

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  • Three Years Later

    Maybe it’s because I suffer from chronic nostalgia that I feel compelled to write this. Maybe it’s because I feel like so much has happened. But, really, I think it’s because I have changed so much. We have. Three years ago Danielle and I were attempting to cope with the reality of leaving a place we loved, Continue reading

  • Video Games, Vengeance, and the Gospel

    This is my first post in a while… and it’s about something that is out of the norm for me. One thing you may not know about me is that I am a big fan of video games, especially games with narrative and intriguing plot. Video games were a huge part of my childhood, from Continue reading

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  • Rest

    “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 Often, when looking at the beatitudes, we focus on the first part of the statement and forget the conclusion. We agree that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed. But catch the result: “they shall be satisfied.” Continue reading

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  • Luther’s Theology of the Cross Part 3

    [This is the third and final part of a summary of McGrath’s excellent book Luther’s Theology of the Cross.] [For the first part in the series, click here.] [For the second part in the series, click here.] Over the last semester, I have been digging into the question: how is it that we do theology? What makes it possible? In Continue reading

  • CRUX sola est nostra theologia! Part Two

    [This is part Two of a series on Alister McGrath’s great book, Luther’s Theology of the Cross] In the last post I attempted to summarize McGrath’s research regarding the theological background in which Luther operated. McGrath argues strongly that Luther, between 1509-1514, was operating as “a later Medieval theologian,” (chapter 3), and that his thoughts regarding Continue reading