I don’t live for the Jesus who eats red meat, drinks beer, and beats on other men.’

Several weeks ago, I had an extensive phone interview with a reporter from The New York Times about the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in the wide and nebulous net of “evangelical churches.” The reporter had come across one of my previous blog entries and contacted me.

The NY Times article came out Feb. 2. You can click here to read the full article.

My hour interview was basically reduced to one quote:

“I don’t live for the Jesus who eats red meat, drinks beer and beats on other men.”

Let me clarify, since I have a feeling I’ll be getting my share of visitors over the next couple days who have no idea of who I am or the context behind that one quote. But first, some initial thoughts:

Read on… (thanks to my friend Mihai Pavel for this)