(Originally published at my church blog.)
I think of worship as “honoring God.” That language helps me to remember that my worship is more than just praising God, or praying to him, or reading scripture devotionally, or whatever. It reminds me that I am called to worship God by living my life in a way that honors him.
We’ve all known people who were very engaged with God in their public worship, and very engaged with the flesh in Read the rest of this entry »
I really enjoy writing, but preaching has its place too… and occasionally, I get to do just that. It’s harder to skim read :) but when you get the time you can listen here.
Not only do I have a Spiritual Director, I are one. There, I said it. Yeah, I know, the term “spiritual direction” carries either a big yawn or big baggage. On the one hand it seems archaic. Too Catholic for many, conjuring up images of monks in habits, sitting in barely furnished, stucco coated rooms lit by one weak candle in the corner. Or maybe I just planted that thought for the first time, but still for most of us, the word “direction” seems too authoritative to be something that any self-respecting American would seek.
I hear that Life Coaches are all the rage for some. Think of this as a Spiritual Life Coach. Spiritual Direction is just a classic term for what some have rightly called
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Do you ever wish your life could perform better for you? Well, wish no further. Why be stuck with your boring, screwed up life when you could experience… Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes it seems like Jesus isn’t very considerate. Look at what he did to his disciples. He had just “fed the five thousand” and, perceiving that everyone was going to make him king by force, he hid himself in the mountains. Then…
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. John 6:16-17 (English Standard Version)
When I read things like this, I think between the lines. Picture it with me as if you were Read the rest of this entry »
Bekah’s was broken into Friday night. Someone took a big rock, threw it through a window, made a mess of things and made away with some bags of potato chips. Cost of the window? Probably $1000. Cost of the chips? A few bucks.
We got it cleaned up and had a great day. Seriously.
But I’ve been reflecting on a conversation I had with someone who works next door. I told her that we were broken into, etc., and she responded with all sincerity, and a profound sense of justice and finality, “They will BURN IN HELL for a few bags of chips!”
Wow. As is all too often typical, I Read the rest of this entry »
I’m writing from the Millenium Hotel (Iditarod Race Headquarters) in Anchorage, Alaska. I’ve never been to AK before, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re having a warm spell. It’s actually 33 degrees right now. The day before I got here it was 17 below. Go figger. This Florida boy wanted to feel what real cold was, but I guess it’ll have to wait for another journey someplace.
I’m up here on a one week tour with the Kate White Band. We played a women’s prison night before last, and they were such an encouragement. We came away stoked by how receptive and responsive they were.
The next morning I was reflecting on the experience. If we had played a church, we would’ve come away saying, “Wow! That church is really on fire for God!” But instead we marveled at how Read the rest of this entry »
“We should be engaging the culture in a redemptive relationship where radical grace can be lived out, perhaps even more than sung about.” I made this statement a while back while booking a christian artist to perform at Bekah’s Barrista. And she asked me, more or less, what in the world I was talking about. Good for her, I needed to be kept honest.
So here are my thoughts.
It’s admittedly a somewhat reactionary statement about the evangelical christian culture at large, which has for too long been treating people as evangelism projects. Draw a crowd, make the pitch, bring them to a point of decision, and…
It was like my intestines were tied up in a knot. I’d been having stomach pains for a couple weeks, so that I had trouble standing up at times. But to do anything about it would screw up my schedule. So, convinced it was probably just a mishandling of stressors in my life, I’d just take a few deep breaths, and an occasional Alka Seltzer, and press on. Wisdom at work, huh?Well, in response to my wife’s “promptings” I finally made a doctor appointment for Tuesday at 3.45pm. That resulted in an X-ray, followed by a trip to the local hospital for Read the rest of this entry »
Our church meets in a school. And several weeks ago, when we arrived there was sort of a stinky smell. Common fare for a middle school. But as the morning went on, the halls smelled like someone had tossed a poopy diaper in a trash can somewhere and forgotten to empty it.
By Noon, it smelled like something had died. If you went outside and recalibrated your smeller, it was almost stifling to come back in. It was ugly in there. And we had no idea what it was.
