Hi, my name is Tim Nichols. I started out as an upwardly-mobile professional theologian, but along the way I encountered an ancient teacher, one Jesus of Nazareth. (Duh, right? But meeting Jesus is less common than you’d think among theologians.) Long story short, He utterly ruined my professional ambitions.
In exchange, He gave me a vibrant relationship with Him, a deep (and deepening) shared life with His Body, and entirely new vistas of His Creation to explore. I’d love to say I was wise enough to go along with His plan meekly, but the truth is that I loved being a professional theology geek, and God had to break a few of my fingers to get me to let go. I’m so glad He did. He’s taken me all kinds of unexpected places, from homeless camps to city hall, from respectable red-state churches to the kind of parties Christians “shouldn’t” go to (but Jesus did).
Today, the four corners of my life are minister, teacher, bodyworker, and martial arts instructor. I can and do practice those specialties independently, but in the work I love best, it all comes together. I’m still a writer, exegete, and theologian, but I’m a practitioner above all. You’ll find me more often in the studio, the soup kitchen, the classroom with my middle-schoolers, or making a pastoral house call (frequently with a disciple in tow) than in a graduate seminar or academic conference. I still teach seminary-level exegesis, but you have to come help feed homeless folks first; Greek class happens after we sweep up. (Yes, really.)
That juxtaposition of grit with academic rigor characterizes everything we do ’round here. It’s hard to locate blind spots without getting pretty deep into the ivory-tower side of things to expose our assumptions, but we’re about high-concept praxis. “What an interesting idea!” is a fine sentiment, but if beard-stroking interest is as far as it goes…blech. The next step is “So if that’s true, then maybe we could….” and trying it. We’re using the high-concept thought process as a tool to open up new vistas for obedience, and we’re not happy until we’re skinning our knuckles experimenting.
On that note, I should mention that this blog is very much a side project for me. I set aside some time every couple weeks to maintain it, but that’s really all the time I commit to it at this point. So your comments are welcome on recent posts, but if something gets hung up in the moderation algorithm or you’re waiting on a response from me, know that it may be a couple weeks before I get to it.
I can’t, and don’t, do my work alone. God guides and guards. My wife is an invaluable source of wisdom and support. Beyond them, I’m part of the best teams I’ve ever served with anywhere. If you’re joining up, we’ll train you. If you’re skeptical, that’s fine; we’re not looking for admirers. We’re looking for partners. The harvest is plentiful, and we need the help.
On the teams, my focus is discipleship and pastoral development. On the geeky/research side, my interests run to recovering robust biblical doctrines of creation and anthropology, and following the biblical models of hermeneutics, exegesis, and application.
Thanks for looking in! I hope my work is helpful to you.
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