I’ve seen Gerhard Lohfink’s Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith show up in so many footnotes that I finally decided to check it out for myself. It’s not often that I almost read a book translated from German into English in one sitting, but I couldn’t put this one down. I promise […]
The Conversation
Yesterday I spoke from Exodus 32-34 and asked the church to let this story challenge their preconceived notions of what God is like. No matter how you slice it, this is a bizarre story that can’t be easily categorized or tidily summed up. This story shows that while God’s primary personality characteristic is not wrathful […]
August 29, 2005 by 12 Comments
I Can Identify With This
I saw the following quote in Christianity Today this morning. It’s taken from “A Shy Person’s Guide to the Practice of Evangelism” by Steven C. Bonsey. Let’s pretend that you are someone who might be willing, in theory, at some point, possibly, to consider maybe doing something that, while not “evangelism”-type evangelism, still could be […]
August 19, 2005 by 10 Comments
Measuring What Matters
This weekend we’re doing a staff retreat and we’re going to talk about a number of things, including setting some measurable goals for different ministry areas. I really struggle with how to appropriately measure what happens at a church. Typically, the two measurements most church leaders pay attention to are nickels and noses. While I […]
August 16, 2005 by 18 Comments
The Divine Hours
One of the highlights of my vacation was practicing the discipline of fixed hour prayer using Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours. I’ve been dipping into fixed hour prayer on and off for three years now and I’ve found it to be one of the more helpful disciplines to me. I like the rhythm it gives […]
August 11, 2005 by 6 Comments
Summer Reading
I read a number of books while on vacation. Some of them I actually read and others I listened to while running on the beach or while putting just over 2400 miles on the mini-van. I refused to read anything with footnotes in it. Some of the books I listened to may have contained footnotes, […]
August 10, 2005 by 5 Comments
Back in the Pool
We’ve been back in town for a week now, but I haven’t opened the blog back up because I’ve been so busy trying to catch up on everything else. I put some very unrealistic pressure on myself the first day or two back. I really thought that after being away for two weeks and not […]
August 8, 2005 by 8 Comments
On Vacation
No new posts until early August. I’m turning the comments off for all posts so that I don’t get nailed by spammers while I’m not watching. See you in a few weeks.
July 15, 2005 by
Here’s Why I Keep Asking
One of my favorite questions to ask these days in small groups, classes, blog posts, and informal conversations is: “What is the Gospel?” I keep asking because I’m convinced our present understanding of what the gospel is and what it’s meant to do is inadequate. Sometimes I wonder if I’m jousting at a gospel that […]
July 11, 2005 by 21 Comments
Destin?
We are supposed to leave this Sunday afternoon for a ten day vacation in Destin, Florida. I’m not sure what the plan is now. Destin got a good dose of Hurrican Dennis yesterday and we’re not sure what awaits us there if we head in that direction. Update: There’s still no word from the condo. […]
July 11, 2005 by 4 Comments
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons