My name is Marc Cortez and I teach theology and church history at Western Seminary in Portland, OR. That means I get to spend most of my time helping people think more deeply about how amazing God is and why it matters for life and ministry today. It’s a great job! (I’m also the Academic Dean, but no one really knows what that means.)
This is my personal blog, though you will often see stuff from my students as well. And the purpose of the blog is to connect theology with everyday life. I’m convinced that what we believe matters – it shapes who we are and how we live in the world. So I want to help people access the best that theology has to offer and see how it matters for life today.
Having said that, I’m also a bit random. They say that a good blog should have 3-5 categories that provide focus and purpose for the blog. Following that guideline, my three categories are: life, the universe, and everything. (Yes, I know that I completely stole that from Douglas Adams.) In other words, I’ll write on pretty much anything. It keeps me from getting bored.
I post pretty regularly, so if you want to keep up with my newest posts, you can subscribe by RSS or email.
Taste and See
If you’d like to get a feel for what this blog is about, this is a great place to start. Here are some of the most popular blog posts from the last year, and they really represent what we’re trying to do here. Let me know what you think.
- Put the Theology Book Down and Do Something That Matters: This is a great place to start if you want to see a little of why I think theology is important.
- Please Don’t Look under the Bed!: One of my favorite posts from the last year.
- How to Destroy Your Own Research Paper in One Simple Step: Since I’m a teacher, I occasionally posts tips/suggestions for how to be a good student.
- What Is Heresy? Sugar in My Coffee: I love history. More importantly, I love helping people see why history matters.
- Bait-and-Switch Evangelism: Many of my posts look at issues in ministry today.
- 5 Things I Learned about the Gospel from a Serial Killer: I’m a fan of pop culture. So I often write on books, movies, music, and TV. And sometimes I even try to say something meaningful.
- How to Get More Done by Pretending You’re on an Airplane: This is a great example of a more random post.
If you’d like to see more, you can check out the blog’s archive for a list of every post I’ve ever written.
Who is Marc Cortez?
That’s a great question. I know it’s one my wife and daughters have been asking for years. Who am I? Let’s see:
- Most Importantly: image-bearer and Christ-follower
- Vocationally: Academic Dean, Assistant Professor of Theology at Western Seminary, and director of the Th.M. program there.
- Ministerially: former youth pastor; current high school volunteer, small group leader, hopeful author, and occasional speaker
- Relationally: son, brother, husband, father, friend
- Ecclesially (church affiliation): Baptist
- Ethnically: despite the hispanic last name, I’m as white as you can get
- Biologically: homo sapien
- Metaphysically: I have no idea
I’m sure I missed a few, but those are the highlights.
Contact Me
I love interacting with people online. So feel free to contact me in any of the following ways:
- Leave a comment: I really enjoy comments and try to interact with as many as I can. So feel free to let me now what you think about pretty much anything!
- Email: Feel free to send me an email with any questions, comments, or random thoughts. (I also accept words of encouragement, generous donations, and barely disguised bribes.)
- Facebook: If you thought the blog was random, you should see my Facebook page!
- Twitter: I have a great time interacting with people on Twitter, so feel free to connect with me there.
- Google+: To be honest, I haven’t gotten into Google+ as much yet. But I am there if you want to contact me that way.
