Crazy sermon. Trying to take a crack at redefining love is like trying to re-explain ice cream to everyone.

Love as Sacrifice (The Absolutes Series) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Why The Justice Conference? from :redux on Vimeo.

The new site features a host of scholars, academics and practitioners, is formatted with a powerful search engine, has resources for using Redux and much more.

The pre-conference questions and answer sessions from the upcoming Justice Conference will also be added to the askquestions.tv website, which will only add to the breadth and depth!

If you get a chance, check out the new website and share it with your friends!!

askquestions.tv

For me, this is cool.

I like the phrase ‘social justice.’

We started The Justice Conference, which is coming up this weekend in Portland and is one of the largest international gatherings around biblical and social justice, so maybe it’s pretty obvious I like social justice and see it as a part of the outworking of my Christian faith and biblical justice.

Other folks share my excitement for social justice.

Here is World Vision from their blog today:

“Biblical references to the word “justice” mean “to make right.” Justice is, first and foremost, a relational term — people living in right relationship with God, one another, and the natural creation. From a scriptural point of view, “justice” means loving our neighbor as we love ourselves and is rooted in the character and nature of God. As God is just and loving, so we are called to do justice and live in love.”

Eugene Cho also tackles this subject on his blog today with this intro, “Today is World Day of Social Justice. Those two words, “Social Justice” can be very polarizing. For me, it matters because the Gospel matters. If you truly believe in the Gospel, then you have to believe that it matters not just for your personal salvation but God’s pursuit of restoration, redemption, & reconciliation for the entire world. I believe in this Gospel. I live for this Gospel.”

On the other end of the spectrum, I received this e-mail thread from a wise, older trusted friend and mentor this morning.

“By the way, I listen to MacArthur on my way to early morning workouts just to remind myself of how good it is to be free from all that crap. He’s in a series proving that the social justice movement isn’t biblical. So, brace yourself for the attacks.”

So why would some Christians be so excited about social justice while other Christians would be so hostile as to try and prove it to be unbiblical?

I think the biggest problem lies in the use of language.

What is the definition of Biblical Justice?  This one is pretty easy.  It is a definition that refers to justice referred to or promoted in the bible or scripture.  There is an authority source (the Bible) and the question references this definitive source in seeking its answer.

What, however, is the definition of social justice?  This one speaks to a category or sphere of justice.  It doesn’t have in its name, though, the definitive source for it’s definition.

Thus the problem.  Social justice can be defined or interpreted in a myriad of different ways.

If someone is mentored by Glen Beck (who made headlines a year ago for calling people to leave churches if “Social Justice” was talked about or espoused) they will define it as “Democratic socialist politics aimed at the forced redistribution of wealth.”

If someone follows a very legalistic Christian leader they will find it defined as “that liberal social gospel agenda whereby we try to make earth into heaven and distract people from the centrality of the cross and salvation.”

The more straightforward definition, however, is that social justice describes a sphere in which justice works – namely ‘the social sphere’ where issues of racism and poverty reside, where orphans, widows and foreigners face injustice, oppression and vulnerability and where huge issues like trafficking, HIV/Aids, famine and natural disaster relief fall into or overlap.

What other category of justice – criminal, business law, political law, international justice etc. – is large enough to include every aspect of the issues above?

If we drew this as a pie graph (see image below), social justice would be a slice, a sphere, in which justice operates.

Therefore, if God cares about the issues that would fall in that sphere, orphans, widows and foreigners, then it logically follows that social justice (as a category) harmonizes with Biblical Justice.

Here is the caveat.

Social justice, if it is a sphere of justice in the social arena, doesn’t necessarily settle the question on how best to enact justice for the poor, oppressed or vulnerable.  It leaves the question of method, means, efficiency and effectiveness up for discussion.

This is another part of the problem with peoples’ understanding of social justice… believing there should be justice in the social sectors doesn’t pre-commit you to a certain political party or theory of enacting social justice.

Wealth redistribution and other hot buttons can be argued about, both sides can present cases as to why their view is the most effective or efficient, without attacking the idea of social justice itself.

We would be far better off realizing God cares for and wants justice for the marginalized while arguing means than denigrating social justice itself.

Unlike Glen Beck, I don’t find the term (historically or otherwise) as necessarily being defined as socialist politics.  Additionally, if God is a God of justice and commands justice then I don’t find it helpful, like many legalistic pastors, to pit God against mercy, compassion or justice.  As if God would be happy with us if we kept ourselves pure by avoiding social justice and walking to the other side of the road.

Wasn’t the parable of the Good Samaritan aimed at just this point?  That legalistic or pietistic religion can often lead to a counter-intuitive ignoring of love of neighbor (the Priest and Levite) and that often it is the least religious who empathizes or understands love of neighbor best (the Samaritan). See Luke chapter 10 verses 30 and following.

Maybe being against social justice is a white middle-class issue.

I know this sounds inflammatory, but most folks I know who have a lot of animosity toward the phrase itself tend to be white middle-class. However, all of my Christian friends in the relief and international development world, those who work in urban contexts, those who have taken vows of poverty or service or those who are or live in minority communities seem to take the phrase at face value and almost as a given – there should be justice in the social sectors…  God, scripture and much of Christian history stand with and for the vulnerable and oppressed!

Theologian John Stott once called the movement away from justice issues by the church in recent times, “the Great Reversal.”  He meant to imply that this was a departure from Christian history where Christians where often at the forefront of social issues, justice issues, charities, hospital building and so much more.

I find this whole question, “Is Social Justice Biblical,” to be the sort of silly game that Paul warned about when he said to avoid petty arguments.

People matter to God and therefore they should matter to us – every bit of them from the salvation of their souls to the meeting of material needs (see 1 John 4:20-21).

Justice is rooted in the character of God, commanded in his Holy Scriptures and exemplified in the life of Christ and the history of the church.

Justice is the right ordering of our relationships with God and neighbor.

Justice, in all spheres and slices of life and especially in the social sectors, is biblical, God-honoring and right. Politics, theories or political platforms, however, are open to dispute and disagreement.

Let’s keep the means and ends from being confused on this one.

[See also "Justice as a Theological Necessity" and "Defining the term Justice"]

There’s a new website launch coming tomorrow for Redux.  Get ready!

:redux (ask questions) from :redux on Vimeo.

Pretty fun to make some friends and find ways to collaborate with other projects.

The trailer looks pretty interesting – definitely a movie that’ll get people talking!

Thanks Audrey Valez for sending me the picture and making me glad I had to miss it!

Grace Laxson :: Death Has Lost Its Sting from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Joy, for Lewis, was a particularly theological word.

It spoke to the German concept of Sehnsucht – or deep longing – and Lewis built whole arguments around joy as the pointer to heaven.  ”If we find in ourselves a longing which nothing in this world can fill, then we can make the assumption we were created for another world.”

In Letters to Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer, Lewis writes, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”  Our deepest longings awaken us to joy and ultimately point us to heaven.

Lewis titled his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, and ends with this slightly overstated, but poignant analysis of the role joy plays in our pilgrimage home:

“But what, in conclusion, of Joy? for that, after all, is what the story has mainly been about.  To tell you the truth, the subject has lost nearly all interest for me since I became a Christian.  I cannot, indeed, complain, like Wordsworth, that the visionary gleam has passed away.  I believe (if the thing were at all worth recording) that the old stab, the old bittersweet, has come to me as often and as sharply since my conversion as at any time of my life whatever.  But I now know that the experience, considered as a state of my own mind, had never had the kind of importance I once gave it.  It was valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer.  While that other was in doubt, the pointer naturally loomed large in my thoughts. When we are lost in the woods the sight of a signpost is a great matter.  He who first sees it cries “Look!”  The whole party gathers round and stares. But when we have found the road and are passing signposts every few miles, we shall not stop and stare.  They will encourage us and we shall be grateful to the authority that set them up.  But we shall not stop and stare, or not much; non on this road, though their pillars are of silver and their lettering of gold “We would be at Jerusalem.” C.S. Lewis, Surprised By Joy: The Shape of My Early Life 

Below is a brief overview Jerry Root gave at Redux on C.S. Lewis’s conception of joy that is well worth the watch.

What was C.S. Lewis’s definition of ‘joy’? from :redux on Vimeo.

The Mission Kids Music Project – Volume 1. 

This is one of the coolest projects we’ve been able to work on at Antioch in a long while!

Mission Kids is a program through Antioch designed to help parents raise compassionate and mission minded kids.

The idea is simply to equip churches and parents with the tools needed to instill and nurture virtues of justice and compassion in children.

As part of the program (set to relaunch at this year’s Justice Conference), Linda, Justin, Ben, Micah, Grace and a host of others collaborated on a music CD that is a collection of original pop songs.

The goal for the music project was to create catchy tunes that kids would listen to and memorize, but that parents would enjoy and want to listen to as well.  I never thought, however, they’d be able to hit the target as well as they did!

My kids are going to wear this thing out!!

You can pick up a copy of the new CD at Antioch Church, The Kilns Bookstore or at the conference bookstore at The Justice Conference in Portland on February 24+25th.

You can also order or download the music by visiting the iTunes store here: Mission Kids The Music Project on iTunes

(For more on Mission Kids or how your church can purchase a subscription, get a web page and unlock all the materials, visit MissionKids.us)

Dr. Jerry Root :: C.S. Lewis and Perfect Love Casts Out Fear from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

What is worship? (in brief) from :redux on Vimeo.

Should Christians be involved in political issues? (The one where Ken explains Affirmative Action) from :redux on Vimeo.

This is one you don’t want to miss if you’re in Central Oregon!

Here’s a brief overview:

Sermon Topic: C.S. Lewis and “Perfect Love Casts out Fear”

Educational Background:

Ph.D., British Open University. Thesis: C. S. Lewis and the Problem of Evil: A Pervasive Theme. Supervisors: Basil Mitchell. Lyle Dorsett. Sponsoring Agency: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. 2004

M.Div., Talbot Graduate School of Theology. La Mirada, California. 1978

B.A., Whittier College. Whittier, California. 1973

About Jerry Root:

Jerry was born and raised in Southern California. He grew up in a Christian family but did not become a Christian until his freshman year at Whittier College. He was deeply influenced by the ministries of Campus Crusade for Christ and Granada Heights Friends Church in La Mirada, California. Jerry’s sister Kathy introduced him to the writings of C. S. Lewis while he was still an undergraduate. Upon graduation from college he selected Lewis as an author who would take him to other authors and has made of him a life study. The concept that graduation from college is “Commencement” has meant that only a foundation for learning is established through formal education after which one commences his/her liberal arts education.

He pastored three different churches over twenty-three years. Nineteen of those years were invested in student ministry, and for four years he served as a senior pastor. While pastoring he taught courses in Philosophy and on C. S. Lewis for ten years at the College of Du Page in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He has served on the Adjunct Faculty at Biola University since 1991, teaching courses on Lewis. He has been teaching at Wheaton College full time since 1996.

Jerry has lectured or preached in 14 countries: Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Ireland, Mexico, Romania, Slovakia, Sudan, Switzerland, Uganda, Ukraine. He has also lectured or preached in 19 States: California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin. Jerry has traveled to 31 countries and 3 continents.

What is the meaning of ‘Justice’? from :redux on Vimeo.

Somehow, I had allowed the idea that “justice is a good thing, one in the mix of many other good things,” grow in people’s minds and understanding of Justice.

I stewed on this and prayed about it for a very long time.

You see, justice, like truth, is not just “a good thing.”

They are universal things or absolutes.  They exist everywhere and every subject touches them somehow.

Most people get this with truth.  What is is and what is true corresponds to reality, whether we believe it, understand it, follow it or know it.  Truth is a rightness or a certain rectitude between a concept and what exists in the fabric of reality.  It is governed by the laws of logic etc.

Justice, likewise, corresponds to what ought to be in the fabric of relationships.  Oughts and musts exist whether we believe them, understand them, follow them or know them.  Justice is a rightness or certain rectitude between people and societies, structures, policies, cultural norms and laws.  Injustice is the breakdown of what ought to be and justice is the existence or the promotion of what should be.

Truth and justice are universals. They are hallmark aspects of creation.

Justice, therefore, is not just a good thing.

Rather, justice is a lens by which we look at and evaluate other things.

I tried with the message below to express what I believe is a paradigm we need to hold with regard to justice – that it is a theological necessity.  Our understanding of God should compel justice.  And that understanding justice is one of the ways by which we are meant to understand God more clearly.

As the Psalmist writes, “The Lord is known by his justice.” (Psalm 9:16)

When a child walks with, cares about and acts in something the Father does, cares about and works for there is a degree of “like-mindedness” that comes that otherwise couldn’t be there to the same degree.  We know God better as we understand justice. ”For the LORD is a God of Justice.” Isaiah 30:18

I’ve never tried to swing as hard at a concept in a message before and it turned out to be very provocative, but I feel a strong burden that God desires for us to reconnect the first and the second great commandments.  That love of God implies love of neighbor and that love of the orphan the widow and the alien is one of the primary means by which we demonstrate love of God.

“If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

There certainly are other things in addition to justice, but justice is, I believe, a theological necessity and more than just “another good thing.”

“Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth.”

Justice as a Theological Necessity from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Take a peek and make sure to register at thejusticeconference.com

Voices: Ken Wytsma from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

Understanding the Canonicity of Scripture from :redux on Vimeo.

I’m excited about having innovative, deep and authentic guys like Rick on the speaker team.

Voices: Rick McKinley from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

Ken, are you a liberal? from :redux on Vimeo.

In that vein, his writings can truly be called ‘prophetic.’

Bonhoeffer’s small book Life Together is a great example.

To a culture consumed with individualism, consumerism, materialism and too often treats God as a magic eight ball for whatever our current needs, wishes or fears are… the excerpt below stands as strong medicine.

“It is not that God’s help and presence must still be proved in our life; rather God’s presence and help have been demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus Christ. It is in fact more important for us to know what God did to Israel, in God’s Son Jesus Christ, than to discover what God intends for us today. The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important than the fact that I will die. And the fact that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too, will be raised on the day of judgment.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible

It seems paradoxical or counter-intuitive at first glance.

The Fear of God, however, makes a ton of sense when we bring in the concepts of “awe” and “respect.”

The biggest, most important, most powerful, most awesome thing is always something we regard with awe and respect. I remember losing my words the first time I was around a celebrity. They were normal humans like me, but their position and status had a profound affect on my comfort and ability to act normal. I held them in high esteem.

The centrality of God in the universe is a position that should lead to the centrality of God in our lives. His power, status, significance and magnitude should cause us to be in awe of him. If not, if we take him for granted or treat him as common, something is misfiring about our conception of God, ourselves or the universe.

The Fear of God, therefore, is a great indicator as to how we’re viewing God in our hearts.

This song of Chris Beland’s is quick becoming one of my favorites. He sang it in our house after a college and singles meeting and then again at Antioch. I’ve found few songs with as much theology embedded as this one.

Watch this video, listen to the words and learn about the deep meaning of the phrase “fear of God.”

Chris Beland :: Great and Terrible God from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

I have been trying to talk through our core commitments at Antioch for the last month, but I keep diverting and talking about what I believe to be the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter seems, in my opinion, to be what drives everything else. Values flow naturally from the heart.

I apologized yesterday for “messing Antioch up” by not giving the perfect talk on values, but speaking about God being at the center sure seemed like the right message.

I’ve got most of my theology on life and faith tied up in this one. Give it a watch if you get the chance.

“Being a Christan is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God at the Center (or the one on the subtle sin of forsaking God) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Here’s the list I sent along for them to choose from:

1. Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2. Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
3. The Brothers Karamozov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. Paris 1919 or A Peace to End All Peace (both history books on WWI that help you gain a conceptual grasp of the Middle East and why global politics have been what they have been for the last 80 years)
5. Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard
6. Hearing God, Dallas Willard
7. Desiring God, John Piper (if you’re never read this one… you really should)
8. Nothing to Envy, Demick (a short well written history of North Korea)
9. The Miracle: Asia’s Epic Quest for Wealth, Schuman (best overview on the rise of the Asian Economies over the last 50 years… important for both human rights and understanding contemporary issues)
10. The History of Human Rights, Micheline Ishay

Here’s a short video Jon Leyse put together of WR worker Cyprian Nkiriyumwami at a Congo conference we hosted in Chicago a few years back.

Cyprian has an unbelievable and contagious heart.

I shared the video this morning with a group of folks starting a Congo focused Non-Profit. It’s been on my mind since.

Take a minute to watch this:

A Prayer For Congo from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.

Gerry is an amazing theologian at Western Seminary and shares my passion for both orthodox protestant theology as well as engaged social action (love in working clothes).

Make sure to hit up his session if you’re coming to the conference!

What gets you excited about the Justice Conference? from :redux on Vimeo.

Epipheo has done award winning videos for Facebook, Google and a host of other huge clients. On this project they were extra generous and were excited to help on a video with a good cause.

They’re pretty much amazing!

Make sure to register for the conference next February, watch the video and share it with a friend!

What is Justice? from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

The Justice Conference has always been driven by three ideals: that Justice is a necessary thing (not just a good thing); that important and necessary things should be studied (not just casually discussed); and that the best way to leverage change and creativity is in community and collaboration (not just individually or in isolation).

At the heart of these three beliefs is education. Education on the necessity of justice. Education on the nature of justice. Education on the means, methods and metrics of doing justice.

Our biggest problem with education today, however, is that it’s a boring term. We associate it with systems, mechanization, assignments, tests and passivity. What we don’t think of is discovery, knowledge, wisdom, exploration, adventure, service and sacrifice. We don’t associate education with human flourishing, spiritual growth or the just life.

This hasn’t always been the case.

The British scholar, C.S. Lewis, had a different view of education. He wrote, “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.” For him, education was a powerful tool for nurturing latent potential. As opposed to lackluster pruning, Lewis was passionate about the unbounded possibility of growth and change from inspired education.

Plutarch said much the same thing as Lewis with regard to education. He wrote, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

Plutarch and the ancient Greeks tied education to the idea of “the flourishing soul.” Their aim was the change of the person rather than simply the acquisition of a skill.

The focus of education shouldn’t be to build schools or fill classes, but to irrigate deserts. It shouldn’t be to simply provide vocational training, but to help souls flourish. It shouldn’t be to multiply buildings and students, but to enlarge hearts and minds and compel action.

Action is what justice demands.

A just world cannot exist, vulnerable people cannot be helped and oppression cannot be countered without action.

If action is fundamental to justice, then, it seems, education is fundamental to action. As Herbert Spencer once said, “The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.”

The relationship between justice and education is significant. Our knowledge and learning govern our ability to see and understand the many facets and complexities of justice and injustice in the world. Likewise, education empowers and enables us to act wisely, decisively and effectively within our context.

As Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Let’s learn to change the world.

Love them. Love this.

Check it out:

Chris Beland & Grace Laxson :: You’re Always Faithful from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

What do you think?

Why does God seem to command genocide and condone slavery? from :redux on Vimeo.

Voices: Shane Claiborne from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

This is my friend Richard Twiss. Check it – he speaks as straightforward as it gets.

Voices: Richard Twiss from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

Who are the 99%? from :redux on Vimeo.

1. There are two new first time ever classes – Business as Mission and Introductory Greek

2. Dr. Darell Bock, one of the leading New Testament scholars in the world, is giving the Spring Kickoff Lecture this upcoming Sunday night!

3. One of the most engaging ways to study the bible is through archaeology – take Archaeology and the Bible from Mike Caba

4. Kilns College now has a 15 Plex Apartment Complex for students… there’s never been a better time to jump in

5. Because we should all “learn to change the world.”

Click on the web image below to check it out!

Bill is a graphic artist, branding expert and is also an elder at Antioch. His resume of branding is as long as any out there… Microsoft, FedEX, BP, World Relief to name just a few.

The coolest thing, however, is that he just spent the better part of this year rebranding and overhauling all the materials for an anti-trafficking organization working in Cambodia. Giving away 1,000 hours is infinitely more valuable than giving away 1,000 dollars.

Bill and his wife Leila are true examples of what it means to “Give Your Life Away.” In fact, when Matt Smith coined the phrase that we use as our mantra at Antioch, it was in reply to something Bill had just said as we were all deep in conversation over some Thai food.

Recently, Bill and I were discussing The Justice Conference and he said some pretty powerful words.

To paraphrase, “Things like this can become a commodity… like Thomas Kinkade, but for us this (justice) is rooted in the character of God. It’s not something that passes with fashion. We do this because it is timeless and universal. Even if the idea of justice became overused in culture and passed from fashion, we’d still be doing this because it’d still be on God’s heart and people would still be made in his image.”

Bill’s commitment to justice as a matter of devotion and obedience to God is a lot like something Dwight Eisenhower once said.

Eisenhower remarked on his civil rights policies on October 12, 1956 that “We have been pursuing this quietly, not tub-thumping, and we have not tried to claim political credit. This is a matter of justice, not of anything else.”

The quote above is taken from a book called, A Matter of Justice by David Nichols, which looks at Eisenhower’s civil rights record in light of a lot of recently released material from the journals and meetings of his presidency. The book contends that “Ike” hasn’t received as much credit on the issue of civil rights as he deserved.  The reason, argues Nichols, is because much of what “Ike” did wasn’t public or visible.  It was, however, very much on the forefront of his mind and at the top of his policies.  For him, it wasn’t a matter of fashion, but justice.

I’m not an Eisenhower expert, but the idea of justice being compelling regardless of fashion is something that resonates deep within me.  It is also a belief that operates profoundly in many of my friends… like Bill.

That’s what Bonhoeffer wrote in his book, Life Together, and what has become the hallmark of finding our way forward at Antioch with God in the lead.

As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 127:

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Here’s my shot at articulating a God-Centered Vision for church.

Antioch’s Vision (to not have a vision) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Questions exist where they are articulated and where they are hidden or obscured.  There are questions on the surface that we feel and know.  And there are questions below the surface that shape us or nag at us, but that we can’t quite put a finger on or articulate.

Jesus’ interaction with people in the gospels are case studies on the nature of questions.

When Jesus encountered someone they usually had a question – a surface felt need, agenda or simple curiosity.

Jesus didn’t have much time for this.

Rather, Jesus would quickly brush past the surface and elicit the deeper – unspoken – question.  What was really going on… what was really driving someone… what really defined things.

In John 3 the Samaritan woman asks, “Who’s right… should we worship in this style or that style, this mountain or that city,” and Jesus responds by avoiding the trivial and saying real worship is a matter of the heart and of authenticity… “A day will come when you  won’t worship here or there, but  you will worship in spirit and in truth.”

He didn’t waste time with pop-culture questions like, “Does Tim Tebow win games because he prays,” but would dive right at the heart of the thing, “Why don’t more professing Christians pray like Tim Tebow?”  ”If you believe God answers prayer then why are you not praying for bigger things like fighting injustice, how you can be used in his Kingdom, helping the orphan, loving the widow than just who will win an American sports competition?”

I’m growing hungry for better questions that lead to deeper answers.

We find God a lot better in those places.  We find truth a lot better in those places.  We understand ourselves a lot better in those places.

“Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.” – C.S. Lewis

I’d realized that blogging had become a guilt endeavor – just get something up – rather than a meaningful representation of my thoughts or what God is teaching me.

For quite a while, those around me have been nudging me to write more often, more in-depth and to pursue writing for publication. It’s something I’ve wanted as well, but haven’t seem to be able to find the time to do…

This year, however, I’m making commitments to build time for writing – blogging and other – into my schedule.

I’m excited to see where it can go and, most of all, I’m stoked to think about writing from passion and conviction rather than guilt.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” - William Wordsworth

Envy (The 7 Deadly Sins Series) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Click on the picture below and make sure to get your tickets soon (tickets were sold out in a week and a half last year!!)

One of my favorite Bend Traditions!!

Pride (The 7 Deadly Sins Series) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Never gets old.

iBand Christmas from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

There’s no better way to support Kilns College, humanitarian organizations and local artists than shopping at the Kilns.

Shop with a purpose this Christmas!

I don’t know if it’s because today is Thanksgiving or if its just an obvious connection, but I think one of the greatest ways to battle the problem of pride is to give thanks to God.

Pride is a problem of enlarging self and minimizing God. It is something that happens when we take too much ownership for the good we’re blessed with or the opportunities we have. When we don’t realize all we have was given and can be taken away we become self sufficient or self-righteous.

Pride begins with a small conception of God.

Below is my favorite sermon of the last several years that was part of the Big God Series. It speaks to the necessity of fear or respect of God in our understanding of the love of God.

Looking forward to Sunday and revisiting this distinction!

(Happy Thanksgiving!)

Big God (or the fear of God in the love of God) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

3 Problems In Dealing With Lust from :redux on Vimeo.

Lust (The 7 Deadly Sins Series) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

The 7 Deadly Sins Part II

Is it a sin to be angry? from :redux on Vimeo.

Wrath (The 7 Deadly Sins Series) from Antioch Church on Vimeo.