I’ve been preaching the through the beatitudes one at a time. In each message, I insist that we resist reading the beatitudes as ethical prescriptions. They’re not the be-happy attitudes and they’re not good advice. They are declarations of good news to the broken people who have gathered around Jesus to hear him teach about […]
Opening Line
How is this for an opening line to a sermon on “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth”? What I’m about to say today makes absolutely no sense and may end up being of no practical value whatsoever, but since what I’m about to say is based on something Jesus said, I […]
September 25, 2008 by 2 Comments
A Needed Resource?
Help me out here. I’m doing a bit of market research. I’ve been working on a manuscript for a little book that could serve as a resource for churches that want to give newcomers/seekers something that explains a “bigger” gospel than has usually been presented in such literature. By “bigger” I mean an explanation of […]
September 17, 2008 by 19 Comments
Shame and Guilt
So what is the difference between guilt and shame? Guilt says “You’ve done something wrong.” Shame says “There is something wrong with you.” In his book, Atonement for a “Sinless” Society, Alan Mann suggests that before churches address the problem of guilt they must address the epidemic of shame that exists in a post-Christian culture. […]
February 20, 2008 by 8 Comments
Made to Stick: Simplicity
In Made to Stick, the Heath brothers unpack six principles that make an idea sticky. The first is Simplicity. They write, “How do we find the essential core of our ideas? To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize.” This is one of the hardest […]
April 12, 2007 by 16 Comments
What is Your Core Message?
Here is a great article from Tom Bandy. Imagine. It is almost 11:00 on Friday night when the phone rings. Your neighbor is calling in a panic. He is not particularly religious, but he knows that you go to church regularly. In a rush of words he tells you that his daughter is being held […]
April 10, 2007 by 8 Comments
Five Years Later
On Sunday, September 9th, 2001, I told the church I was working with in Bellingham, Washington that I was resigning at the end of the year and probably getting out of professional ministry. I was going to get my real estate license and get busy buying, selling, and developing property. I was disillusioned, depressed, and […]
September 11, 2006 by 15 Comments
Where Do You Start?
What began as the relaying of a conversation I overheard and my initial reaction to it has grown in the comments into a much more important discussion on evangelism. Mainly, where do you begin when sharing the gospel with a skeptical seeker or seeking skeptic? (They are slightly different animals you know.) I think most […]
July 24, 2006 by 42 Comments
Rooting for the Skeptic
Yesterday, while at Panera Bread, I had the privilege of overhearing a conversation between a skeptic and a couple of Christians. If I hadn’t heard this myself, I would have never believed it had taken place. The two Christians were trying to evangelize this skeptic and he was having none of it. They asked him […]
July 21, 2006 by 26 Comments
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?
Check out my article, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, over at Wineskins Magazine. table fellowship, inclusion
March 5, 2006 by 10 Comments
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons