Missional Bible Study from GOCN MISSION How does this text send us and equip our witness? CONTEXT How does this text read us and our world? GOSPEL How does this text evangelize us with good news? CHANGE How does this text convert us in personal and corporate life? FUTURE How does this text orient us […]

I’ve been listening to Douglas Adams” Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on Audio. It’s a hoot. Here is my favorite quote so far: “`You’d better be prepared for the jump into hyperspace. It’s unpleasently like being drunk.’`What’s so unpleasent about being drunk?’`You ask a glass of water.’”

Yesterday Heather and I celebrated our seventh anniversary! Thanks to some wonderful folks from church who volunteered to watch the boys, we were able to go out last night and watch “Secondhand Lions” (great movie) and then enjoy a meal together. During dinner we looked back at the past seven years and recounted some of […]

I think we’re the only church in Tulsa not doing the “40 Days of Purpsose” thing. Instead, I’m thinking we may do something called “10 Days of Meaninglessness.” It would be based on Ecclesiastes and would hopefully leave us all cold, naked, and shivering on the floor of our existential angst.

I just watched “Luther.” There were about twenty people in the theatre, me and nineteen Lutherans. I really enjoyed it. I’m not a huge church history buff, but I’ve had a class or two. The movie seemed to hit all the highlights, except Luther’s love of beer. I’m not sure why they didn’t emphasize this […]

In my class on the Kingdom of God we’re grappling with these six questions: 1. Is the Kingdom of God already present or has it not yet arrived?2. Is the Kingdom of God an individual or social/communal enterprise?3. Is the Kingdom of God spiritual or material? Is it concerned more with religion or politics?4. Does […]

We went out to lunch yesterday with some friends. Elijah screamed almost the whole time. Caleb, who is being potty trained, felt the urge to go just as the food arrived. Heather had already taken him once before. When I tried to take him into the men’s room he balked because earlier his mom had […]

If you’re interested in a communal approach to evangelism, check out The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George Hunter. I have used it in several classes and keep coming back to it time and time again.

Yesterday I preached on the story of the Shrewd Steward in Luke 16:1-8. Afterwards I heard these two comments from long-time church members: “In my fifty years of listening to sermons I’ve never heard one on that text.” “I didn’t even know that parable was in the Bible!” Amazing. One cool thing about preaching on […]

It would be overly simplistic to say that the tragedy of September 11th was the sole reason I never made good on my resignation, but it did play a major role. Just as it was for many around me, Sept. 11th was a clarifying moment in my life. Instead of fanning the flames of patriotism […]