Jiffy Lube, Coronavirus & the Spread of Christianity
March 3, 2020
Start talking about a pandemic and you’ll see the true color and substance of people’s faith. … More Jiffy Lube, Coronavirus & the Spread of Christianity
Get Your Life Back
March 3, 2020
I want to share a new book and group study to consider offering “Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad.” We live in soul-scorching times. The 24-7 onslaught of contemporary life—with its never-ending feed of global tragedies, demands for our attention, and pressures of work, family, and friends—has left us feeling ragged, wrung-out, and emptied. … More Get Your Life Back
Stonewall Faith & Prayers
March 2, 2020
If I’m honest, I think the image of heads praying against a stonewall hits too close to home for pathetic pray-ers like me. Haven’t we all tried to draw nearer to God’s presence in prayer, but felt like our prayers were deflecting off of a glass ceiling or crashing into a thick stone wall? … More Stonewall Faith & Prayers
Tears in the Cracks
February 27, 2020
If you stare long enough at all the paper-prayers smooshed into the cracks of that enormous wall, one wonders if the cracks grow a bit wider each day in proportion to the cumulative suffering and loss experienced by our human race as the LORD tarries in His return. … More Tears in the Cracks
Touching Where Heaven Touched Earth
February 25, 2020
Suddenly you are funneled into that little doorway as you descend to your golden moment, whereupon you have about 10 seconds to observe and pay homage at the spot where Heaven invaded Earth and Eternity kissed mortality before a staff person shoos you onward to keep the line moving. … More Touching Where Heaven Touched Earth
Holy Land: A Scratch ‘n Sniff Faith
February 25, 2020
In an era where many Christians worship by passively staring at a jumbo screen, we need to get back to seeking and engaging God-Reality with all our senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. … More Holy Land: A Scratch ‘n Sniff Faith
The Story
February 21, 2020
The greatest tragedy that has befallen Western Christianity over the past few hundred years is the chopping up of the drama of biblical story into cold and sterile propositional truth claims. If there’s one gift I’d love to give everyone I meet or minister to, it is the gift of grasping the Big Story of the Bible in narrative form and the thrill of discovering their unique place in the unfolding plot. … More The Story
Kingdom Sex & the Covenant of Marriage
February 19, 2020
Throughout history, Dr. Eddy argues, there have been three marriage models that have evolved with society: traditional marriage, romantic marriage, and consumer marriage. But which of these models is the right one for a Christian marriage? None of them, answers Eddy.
… More Kingdom Sex & the Covenant of Marriage
Pondering My Pilgrimage
February 18, 2020
“So I think my biggest takeaway is that the Holy Land might have begun in Israel, but it was never meant to end there.” … More Pondering My Pilgrimage
My 20 Year Holy Land Pilgrimage
February 4, 2020
For the past twenty years I have been getting the Holy Land inside of me through my studies and ministry experience, and now its time for me to go inside the Holy Land! … More My 20 Year Holy Land Pilgrimage
Why Christians Shouldn’t Argue Over Politics
February 1, 2020
Your favorite candidate will win or lose based on how our country votes this November. However, the church will win or lose based on our behavior between now and then. … More Why Christians Shouldn’t Argue Over Politics
The Feast is Ready! Come and Get it!
January 28, 2020
“Every wise teacher trained in the kingdom is like the homeowner who brings out of his storeroom new and old things” (Matt 13:52). Jesus warned against trying to pour new wine into old wineskins—a constant warning to Christians and church leaders down through the ages not to get too attached to our ministry models … More The Feast is Ready! Come and Get it!
Evangelicalism’s Big Trap
January 22, 2020
My teacher Scot McKnight just published a piece at Jesus Creed, now hosted at Christianity Today online, warning Evangelicals of the trap of “statism” running amok in Christian circles. This statism was on full display in the reactions to Mark Galli’s editorial piece on Trump a few weeks back. Here’s a couple paragraphs, but you … More Evangelicalism’s Big Trap
Wisdom Culture & the Juvenalization of American Christianity
January 21, 2020
“Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 Churches are busy with many good endeavors, but seeking and passing on wisdom seems to have fallen down the list of priorities. According to my teacher, Scot McKnight: “People today care less about growing up or gaining wisdom and far more about staying young, maintaining relevancy, and dressing according … More Wisdom Culture & the Juvenalization of American Christianity
A Snowman Explains the Meaning of Life
January 19, 2020
How does making a snowman explain the meaning of life? … More A Snowman Explains the Meaning of Life
Kids Say the Profoundest Things
January 18, 2020
We all know the phrase, “Kids say the darnedest things.” It usually refers to an embarrassing remark a child utters in a public setting. But sometimes kids say the profoundest things. … More Kids Say the Profoundest Things
I Wonder What Sort of a Tale We’ve Fallen Into?
January 17, 2020
“I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We’re in one, of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards.” … More I Wonder What Sort of a Tale We’ve Fallen Into?
Wise Words for Church Leaders
January 16, 2020
I’m grateful for the wise and courageous leadership of our Conference Superintendent Mark Stromberg. These are some words from a recent letter to churches and pastors. The ministries in which you are involved matter. The manner in which you conduct yourselves also counts, as it is noticed by others and either reflects well on your … More Wise Words for Church Leaders
A Benediction
January 15, 2020
Life is short, And we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So… be swift to love, and make haste to be kind. And the blessing of God, who made us, who loves us, and who travels with us be with you now and forever. AMEN
I’m an Anabaptist – What and Why?
January 15, 2020
While I don’t often use the label, I self-identify as an Anabaptist in many aspects of my faith and theology. My teacher Scot McKnight offers this brief sketch. … More I’m an Anabaptist – What and Why?
On Reading Scripture
January 9, 2020
This week I am teaching on the nature of the Bible — authority, inspiration, infallibility, etc. — in my Christian Theology class at Solid Rock Discipleship School. I dug up this post from 2011 I wanted to share again as we begin a New Year. In the October 2011 issue of Christianity Today, J. Todd … More On Reading Scripture
May the Force be with You!
January 7, 2020
Those angels outside Bethlehem could have been Jewish Jedis when they came with their greeting that was essentially, “May the Force be with you” — that is, may the Peace or Shalom of God be with all upon whom God’s favor rests (cf. Luke 2:14)! … More May the Force be with You!
Are You Ready for Epiphany?
January 6, 2020
The very name Epiphany carries a wonderful abundance of connotations: revelation and realization and disclosure and manifestation, all with an element of surprise – a illumination of insight in which everything is transformed. … More Are You Ready for Epiphany?
WOW – On Worldliness
January 2, 2020
“Worldliness is everything in the world around us that makes sin look normal and that makes righteousness look strange.” -DAVID WELLS … More WOW – On Worldliness
Keeping Watch in the New Year
December 31, 2019
I’m so glad the shepherd’s near Bethlehem didn’t have smartphones or Netflix that first Christmas. Can you imagine the scene? … More Keeping Watch in the New Year
Kingdom Harbor 