Church Life
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When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, it was a time the crowd decided to boldly make a play for his leadership. They laid out palms, as symbols of Jewish nationalism. They cried out for their King to save them… from the Roman oppression. Jesus wants our praise and celebration. “But too often we only… Read more
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I want to know the feeling of “dying” for something different. By that I mean having a desperation for something that is just more. A place where I get beyond the internet fascinations of whatever is being discussed in the moment… and the tirades… to the possible. Not the possible of what can be done… Read more
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If we could possibly move away from doing things that we only think are good enough to post on Facebook, think of all the things we actually DO that bless people in the name of the Kingdom. When you think about all of us as believers simply living out the Kingdom in some small way…… Read more
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The need of the Church is not some cleansing to make sure we have some very strict doctrinal stance memorized perfectly. Doctrine is important. Teaching is vital. Memorizing something to sound absolutely correct and then demanding that precision accuracy of everyone else is not healthy. The need of the Church is not beating our one… Read more
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With one foot squarely in the ministry world and another foot barely in the academic world, I am constantly challenged by our “either/or” thinking. I may be wrong about the world truly being “both/and.” Maybe it’s not. Maybe you have to be either uber-smart… and an academic who is very capable at writing, but not very capable… Read more
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It’s not about particular sins. It’s about SIN. It’s about our rebellion against God. It’s about our desire to be our own little gods. But when we are in our own little rebellions, we feel better about pointing out someone else’s “worse” sin. I pray for the day, just in my own life, when I’m done… Read more
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When we don’t trust the unity that is in Christ, we default into manipulation. We manipulate through legalism or hyper-spirituality. We need to trust the One in whom all things hold together. 16 So don’t let anyone judge you about eating or drinking or about a festival, a new moon observance, or sabbaths. 17 These religious practices… Read more
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When I think of how church is “done” today, all I can see is plaid. The fad is fading (one can hope) but it comes from watching some video coming from some “cutting edge” pastors … excuse me… leaders conference… and 99 percent of the people on the video who were on stage or being interviewed or… Read more
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Pope Francis made some very pointed remarks about the need to train new priests. Some of his comments are so needed in our training of pastors in protestant circles as well: “Formation (of future priests) is a work of art, not a police action. We must form their hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters.… Read more
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Not being Catholic has never kept me from admiring good leadership. And this pope has such a pastoral heart. “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel) was released by the pope today. I have downloaded it, but here are some choice thoughts: “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is… Read more
Apprentice 2 Jesus 