Church
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I don’t get asked a lot, but every once in awhile someone will ask what I want for Christmas. This year I’ve said the same thing: World Peace. I just don’t have a Christmas wish list. My life is full. My family is doing well. My wife and I are having a great time as… Read more
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I love reflecting on the city where I pastor because there are so many things going on that are RIGHT. They are not totally right all the time, but there are things that defy current trends. For instance, Columbia Heights is on the very low end of “affluence” in the Twin Cities. Rock bottom for… Read more
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Great thoughts here from Scot McKnight on the local church. Ordinary small churches are the norm and the reality of church life, of kingdom-now life. We have the ideal in our head, and lifted up as THE model for church, McKnight tries to burst that bubble. As pastors we can even have our ideals: Pastors… Read more
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“The churches of Revelation show us that churches are not Victorian parlors where everything is always picked up and ready for guests. They are messy family rooms. Entering a person’s house unexpectedly, we are sometimes met with a barrage of apologies. St. John does not apologize. Things are out of order, to be sure, but… Read more
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It is not enough to think that if someone simply has a church they can walk by that they have an “adequate” witness of the gospel. We to be IN the lives of those who do not yet believe so they have an opportunity to see Jesus in some form of reality. Let us not… Read more
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In typical fashion, just before a trip it gets the busiest. This week leading up to the trip to Ethiopia has been insane. I wanted to take a moment to simply say again THANK YOU to all who gave so generously toward this trip to Ethiopia. It has been so amazing to see this all… Read more
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Powerful thoughts from Eugene Peterson in Reverse Thunder: The Revelation of John and Praying the Imagination. : The gospel is never for individuals but always for a people. Sin fragments us, separates us, and sentences us to solitary confinement. Gospel restores us, unites us, and sets us in community. The life of faith revealed and nurtured… Read more
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Through the fall I will be preaching through a series called “LIVE DEAD.” Live Dead is a call to missions in our movement, but I also believe it is a call our church needs to hear as well. As we move through the fall, these are the texts we will reflect on and the dates… Read more
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In our denomination, one of the most exciting movements I have seen being raised right now is the “Live Dead” movement. It is a radical commitment to reaching the unreached in some of the hardest places in the world. Something we are not very good at as American Christians is “living dead.” We are a… Read more
Apprentice 2 Jesus 