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Reading Other Peoples’ Mail
Read more: Reading Other Peoples’ MailReturning from the mailbox, you flip through the stack that is your recent prize. You begin the important task of separating the pertinent letters from the ones that will be quickly discarded without even being read. Postcards and invitations in one stack, ads in another; bills, the things you wish you could throw away, on…
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Giant Faith
Read more: Giant FaithAs most of you already know, the San Francisco Giants are World Champions. And as most of you probably know, that fact makes me very happy. This postseason run was incredible, and I’d say this year’s victory was the sweetest of the past three (#Dynasty). The series was incredible! Of the seven games, five were…
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Leaving Christian Gurus Behind
Read more: Leaving Christian Gurus BehindI recently read through Carl Trueman’s book Fools Rush In Where Monkey’s Fear to Tread: Taking Aim at Everyone. As a Christian who prefers not to be identified with evangelicalism, I have always appreciated Trueman’s thought provoking essays. I was especially struck by the following quote in his book: The American church reflects the culture:…
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Writing Scripture
Read more: Writing ScriptureThis last weekend, 11 freshman stood in front of our congregation, affirmed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and expressed their intention to journey with our church through life, at least until they move away for college. As part of this moment, we anointed each student with oil and said, “Because you…
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Christianity: A Way-Of-Being-In-The-World
Read more: Christianity: A Way-Of-Being-In-The-WorldFor the majority of my American Evangelical upbringing , I feel as though I was told that there were two main criteria for what religious leaders around me called “being a believer”: 1) one must have the right beliefs (orthodoxy) and 2) one must live an upstanding moral life (orthopraxy). This understanding of Christianity that…
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Why I am (Mostly) Pacifist
Read more: Why I am (Mostly) PacifistI finally feel free to admit it. I am (mostly) pacifist – I say mostly because my beliefs and thoughts have’t been field tested yet. Before you think I’m crazy and buy me a plane ticket to Pennsylvania to live with the Amish, let me share a few of the reasons why I am pacifist…
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Switchfoot and Karl Barth
Read more: Switchfoot and Karl BarthSwitchfoot is one of my favorite bands of all time. Each of their albums is like meeting a new friend – at first, I’m not sure if we’re going to connect like I hoped we would, but over time my appreciation deepens to the point that my life is different because of our friendship. I…
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Why Ken Ham Lost the Debate
Read more: Why Ken Ham Lost the DebateAs you may well know, earlier this week Bill Nye (The Science Guy) and Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, debated one another as to whether or not Ken Ham’s understanding of the world’s origin is viable (Ham is a literal 6 day, young earth creationist). If you haven’t watched…
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3 Reasons Why Christians Should Be Good Storytellers
Read more: 3 Reasons Why Christians Should Be Good StorytellersI’ve recently found myself surrounded by stories – I’ve been reading them, telling them, listening to them, and living them. It all started when I read East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I had heard that it was a good story, but I was entirely unprepared for its power. I found myself lingering over numerous sentences,…
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The Butthead Prayer
Read more: The Butthead PrayerThis past weekend, our youth ministry began a series exploring the ins and outs of worship. As a way to ease into the series, our middle schoolers (5th-8th) spent Sunday morning practicing prayer through the acronym PRAY (praise, repent, ask, yourself). The students progressed to different stations where they explored different Scriptures that related to…