As a father, I have wanted to surround my kids not just with books, but the allure of a library that beckons them to a grand adventure. When my kids walk into my study, I want them to feel like the Pevensy children walking into the Professor’s study in The Chronicles of Narnia. … More Journeys Through Bookland
Giving thanks today for my teacher, Scot McKnight, whom I have the privilege of doing my doctoral studies with at Northern Seminary. Scot embodies Christ-centered wisdom, humility, ferocious curiosity and rugged commitment to letting the ancient Scriptures speak for themselves. … More Thankful for my teacher, Scot McKnight!
When I’m an old worn out pastor sitting on a porch drinking coffee, and my memory is all but gone, I’ll still remember those two words spoken over me in that church basement on plastic folding chairs with a flickering fluorescent light above… … More A Catalytic Mobilizer on a Plastic Chair
“The obviously well kept secret of the “ordinary” is that it is made to be a receptacle of the divine, a place where the life of God flows.” -Dallas Willard … More A Breathtaking Reality
As a Type Five on the Enneagram, I have found myself both amazed by the uncanny accuracy and profound insights of this system, while harboring my own skepticism about its fuzzy origins and claim that every person fits into one of nine categories. I’ve been a true Five, investigating it at a fast and furious pace, devouring several … More A Skeptics Journey with the Enneagram
We just returned from a week in Orland, Florida. My parents treated their grandkids and us to a week at a fancy resort and Disney World adventures. In the midst of meeting Mickey, visiting Hogwarts Castle, riding roller coasters and carrying tired kids and their souvenirs for miles in the hot sun, we also had … More A Lesson from the Lizard
I’ve retreated for a night (or two) to one of my favorite sanctuaries, the St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. What better reading at a monastery than St. John Chrysostom’s classic treatise on the sacred vocation of the priesthood written around 374 AD. My jaw dropped to the floor as I read his description of … More ‘Marvelous Things, Charged with Terror’
“Midlife is the time to let go of an over dominant ego and to contemplate the deeper significance of human existence.” -Carl Jung One thing turning 40 has meant for me is coming to terms with who I really am, owning my true self regardless of what the world around me thinks or makes of … More Midlife Wisdom & the False Self
Last night I sat by my boys’ bedside and after tucking them in I said, “Let’s start something new and special called, “God Talk.” I told them I spend much of my life thinking, studying and learning about God, and I would love to ponder questions they have about God, life and the mysteries of … More Stamped & Sealed with a New Name
ISAIAH 5:1-7; PS. 80:1-2, 8-19; HEB 11:37-12:1 “They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground…Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is … More Treasures New & Old
When I began a doctoral degree in New Testament context a couple years ago, I never would have guessed my thesis topic would end up focusing on the role of “Letter Writing” in spiritual formation. Well, here I am reading all kinds of ancient, medieval and contemporary letter correspondences, and really loving it! Along the way … More Letters to a Godson
I am just going to say it. I’m going on record. Even though I may need to cash in some “man chips” in doing so, Elton John’s “Your Song” as one of my all-time favorites. Not just Top 10. Probably Top 5. I’m gonna even risk losing friends and the respect of my musical comrades … More My Favorite Love Song
The most formative influences in my life, after my parents, have been my professors. My life’s trajectory changed 20 years ago after sitting in Professor Holmes’ Life & Teachings of Paul class and Professor Eddy’s Historical Jesus class in college. My view of reality and the Christian faith was revolutionized by a paper I wrote for Professor Scourgie’s Intro to … More Call Me Prof!
My amazing wife is giving me the greatest gift I can think of for my 40th birthday: the chance to share the beauty and joy of dancing and swaying, eating and drinking, together with family and friends to the live music of one of my favorite bands. (And my favorite part will be watching my mom … More The Best Birthday Gift is Live Music!
“And a child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6 Our 7-year old, Peter Bjorn, made this precious cityscape that really caught my eye. It reminds me of a passage from Philippians. Followers of Jesus are called to cultivate a countercultural way of life that sets us apart from “a world of corrupt and sinful people.” Paul calls … More Peter Bjorn: Shining Like a Star (and van Gogh)
Yesterday our youngest, Abigail, celebrated her 4th birthday with a day filled with sparkly balloons, glittery outfits and unicorns! She is crazy about unicorns at the moment. I just tucked her into bed wearing her unicorn jammies, a unicorn snap bracelet on her wrist, a unicorn headband, hugging a unicorn stuffed animal, and reading her … More StarryEyed Birthday Girls & CrossEyed Disciples
During one of my Christmas breaks in college, I came home with an old paperback version of John Bunyan’s 17th century classic The Pilgrim’s Progress. I was going through a radical spiritual awakening, and was voraciously devouring the Christian classics I missed as a non-reading sports jock in high school. The Pilgrim’s Progress collided with my … More The Pilgrim’s Progress & Our Story Shaped Lives
Here’s some books I’ve been reading lately (aside from school reading). Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the forty-first president and his family, Meacham paints an intimate and surprising … More Books I’ve Been Reading
Yesterday I began my next doctoral essay. Here’s a sneak peek at the introduction -JB. “If you had sent a letter…there would have been nothing to prevent my seeming to be actually in your company, and enjoying it as though we had been together… But why do you not write?” –St. Basil to Leontis, 364 AD Pastors know … More The Unbearable Silence of Monday
This series of sermons and posts is from my CrossRoad sermon series from Lent 2019. The series emphasized that the cross was not just the way Jesus died, but a new pattern for how to live. Followers of Jesus don’t just celebrate the CrossEvent; we embark on the CrossRoad. Links to other posts in the … More CrossRoad 1: Introduction
For some say, “Paul’s letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are worthless!” (2 Cor 10:10) Have you heard of the 10,000 Hour Rule? Associated with popular writer Malcolm Gladwell and his book Outliers, the principle holds that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world-class in any … More Only 5,275 Hours to Go!
Here’s the introduction to “MainStreet Beginnings” book as we mark our 7th anniversary. Read more about the project here. Contact me if you’re interested in getting a copy. INTRODUCTION: A Hometown Apostle I was an unlikely choice—but then that sort of makes me a more likely choice in God’s eyes. He loves surprises and unlikely heroes. … More MainStreet Beginnings, Intro
MainStreet was a long, slow launch. We were one of the last “pioneer” plants to get the green light. That is, we didn’t have a parent or partner church when we were approved by the Northwest Conference to begin gathering a Launch Team. Thank God, Excelsior Covenant soon came alongside us to give us a … More Through the Fog (2011)
Today marks the 7th anniversary of MainStreet Covenant Church’s first weekly worship service. I thought this an appropriate occasion to announce the completion of a commemorative book I’ve produced that details the journey. As you probably know, I love history, and therefore I love probing origins. Any appreciator of the past quickly becomes an appreciator … More NEW! MainStreet Beginnings Book
The escape attempts from Alcatraz were thwarted every time as the fugitives were swallowed up in the frozen waters of the San Francisco Bay. The scandal of Christmas is that God does not leave sin-stained humanity stranded on an island or demand we swim through icy waters for our freedom. It celebrates God’s swim across the cold waters in order to secure our freedom. … More Christmas at Alcatraz
Kingdom Harbor 