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On the Living Word and the Written Word
I love God’s Story, Scripture, the Bible. I do believe that this text holds divinely inspired words. I’ve devoted the majority of my adult years to the study and interpretation of this text (and will continue to do so). But God’s Story is not my final authority;...
Choosing Kindness Over Proving I’m Right
I like to be right. Confidence in my knowledge and skills comes naturally (perhaps, too easily). Being kind on the other hand ... Yeah, I'm not good at choosing kindness. It took a piece of children's fiction to show me that. [featured-image single_newwindow="false"]...
Sacrifice of Comfort // from the archives
*This post first appeared September 18, 2007 // At that time, we had just one child and one on the way ... Seems so long ago ... A week ago, on a breezy Monday night, my family and I joined some friends outside a store to give away something: free hugs. It was part of...
Sabbath As Resistance :: Book Review
I'm a recovering workaholic. Which means I always tend toward working too much. Walter Brueggemann has been another clarion call for me to recenter in the practice of Sabbath. Sabbath Means Saying "No" to the Culture of Now Brueggemann's latest book "Sabbath As...
Living Like God’s Kingdom Is Here Now
What if we lived like the God's kingdom was already breaking into this world? I've spent the last few weeks exploring the details of The Lord's Prayer. Imagine if we actually lived like our prayer "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"...
Not About People :: A Brief Theology of Worship
I'm so fatigued from the focus of worship for so many US American churches. So I thought I'd weigh in on the point of worship. This will yield a brief theology of worship. Stop Seeking Seekers Here in 2015 we are still suffering from the "seeker-sensitive" model of...
Hey, Leader! This Is for When the Transition Gets Tough
Hey, Leader! Are you trying to lead into the future and finding the transition is tougher than what you expected? Guess what ... All God's leaders have faced the same thing at some point. Here's just one example from the story of Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron I was...
Another Un-Truth I Learned from the Church
I first posted about an un-truth I learned from the Church here. Now, here's another un-truth I've learned from the church: the world is made up of two kingdoms. The Un-Truth I learned from the church that we Christians should gather in the "church" building as often...
An Un-Truth I Learned From the Church
This might ruffle some feathers, but here we go ... The church has taught me that to be the church means to be "attractional". Authentic Christ-followers should, indeed, lead irresistible lives. But this is not the idiom of attraction I learned. The Un-Truth...
Jesus and Tea
A brief story … I was suffering from a migraine headache recently. Nothing seemed to be working to rid me of it. I put a pot of water on to boil so I could drink some tea. I’m partial to Traditional Medicinals teas. They are organic, fair trade, delicious teas. While...
No One Trusts You Unless You Share Your Wounds
Attempting to engender discipleship in the local church context can be an exercise in futility. Heck, even trying to be a disciple outside of the hourly corporate worship gathering can seem overwhelming. As I am trying to experiment with ways to focus on...
SHEMA: The Difficulty of Listening
It’s inked on my arm seven times.