Lately, I’ve been noticing that most of the things that God created for believers are pretty unattractive on the outside. Think about it. Baptism is really really awkward. Reading the bible never seems that important or fun. Church often feels stale or sticky. Solitude is always down on our list. Fasting, by definition, is the […]
Velvet on the Inside Read More »
I received this e-mail from a staff person on Monday. I decided to post it because I know the context, the passion and the meaning of his words. Hopefully those things will come across. If they don’t and this is confusing or offends… trust me, if you knew the context it wouldn’t. And thanks for
This past Sunday I decided at the last minute to field questions in church rather than teach a lesson. I simply felt like the message I had was too cold and objective and I thought that Q&A would make it feel more conversational. Anyway, we busted through 50 minutes like it was nothing, so the
Ann Mara and I were in a meeting today with a trademark attorney as World Relief wanted us to pursue trademarking “World Relief NEXT.” It turned out to be a really fun and engaging meeting as the lawyer took an interest in what NEXT is doing and also knew some of Ann’s friends. As a
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the American Christian culture. The latest statistics (a landmark study just came out two weeks ago) continue to demonstrate that Christianity is shrinking rapidly and that “non religion” is the fastest growing religious category. Other statistics show the huge drop off (70 – 80% depending on
If it’s broke… fix me Read More »
I was talking today with one of the other pastors and mentioned that I think there are two kinds of martyrs out there – those who run into problems because they are doing what God wants them to do and those who run into problems because they are not doing what God wants them to
Two Kinds of Martyrs Read More »
I had someone ask me to define Christian community and I thought I’d throw out my current thoughts… (so don’t clobber me if I say something that I’ll want to modify later :) This morning at staff meeting I confessed to Kip, Fred & Brandon that after all this time I still think I make
So here is what I’ve been pondering today… What would it look like for Christians and Churches to move beyond just service projects (programmed ways of giving) to becoming servants (programmed to give.) I guess that I’m wondering if we are fooling ourselves about our obedience to Christ in serving others by our moments of
Beyond service projects… Read More »
Yesterday I wrote a blog to say that I am tired of being lumped in with groups that often reflect human failings more than they do the pure and satisfying love of Christ. Several people left well thought through and well reasoned comments to that post. I’m glad they did… it has kept the
Just a Christian: Take 2 Read More »
I’ve decided not to refer to myself as an “Evangelical” anymore. If you’ve been following the news, you might know what has prompted me to make this decision. Paul wanted to know “only Christ, and him crucified.” I guess that I’m realizing that I want to be known by the most basic of facts and
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