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A Story of Hope
The purpose of any good story is to show us where we fit into it. In many stories we find ourselves as the main character. But the story of hope at Advent shows us we are not the center. And it is in that displacement that we have immeasurable hope. [featured-image...
Why Celebrity Pastors Are Going the Way of the Dodo Bird
Celebrity pastors aren't cool anymore. But were they ever, really? North American churches have too easily slipped into cults of personality. And celebrity pastors have too easily given into the temptation to be called "good." I won't name names in this post. The...
5 Ways We Can Live Grace in Everyday Life
Grace radiates from the center of God. If we are being made in the image of this God, and if we are followers of Jesus the Christ, grace should be lived out in our lives in 5 clear ways.
Being the Church Around a Meal // from the archives
*This post first appeared September 14, 2008 // I thought this was an appropriate post based on the sermon I recently preached. We were sitting around, eating the family meal. Eliot, my 3-year old said, "We are the church." "Why?" I asked. "Because we have food." My...
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...
Why “The Rapture” Is a False Concept
I was recently reading 1 Thessalonians 4 and was reminded it has nothing to do with the popular concept of the rapture. This passage of Scripture has spawned quite a bit of theologically irresponsible notions, such as the rapture. The Left Behind series is testament...
1 Big Reason Why Church Hopping Sucks
"If a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that 'suits' him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches." -- C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters Church hopping is a major...
Where Is God In Brokenness? // from the archives
*This post first appeared May 14, 2008 Life has been a whirlwind of late. Financial strains, life circumstance, not feeling in control of it all (that last one is hard for me to deal with). Last week, the Nieces were in Nashville, TN visiting family and friends. I was...
What Opposition for Jesus-Followers Looks Like
I recently preached from a series on Acts about opposition for followers of the Way. Here I'll spell out what that opposition might look like. Why Opposition? About the only certain promise Jesus gave us if we count the cost and decide to follow him is this: we will...
Be an Apprentice of Jesus
Want to be an apprentice of Jesus? Sacramental living is what it is all about. Consider this an invitation to enlarge your entire spiritual formation process. But first let's do away with a common misconception. This Is Not About Evangelism Yes, we do want people to...
What Is a Minister?
So what is a minister? A good question for me to wrestle with (being a vocational pastor once again and what not). What Is a Minister to Religious People? First, let's look at this question from the perspective of religion. Now by religion (specifically the Christian...
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...