Apprentice 2 Jesus

Church

  • When the saints come marching in

    I grew up in a very fundamental Assemblies of God church. I have no bitter stories to tell. I have no scarred past… tattoos… rebellious drug-induced stories… I have good memories. For all the good, the bad, and the ugly, I have fond memories. What I remember most fondly is great preaching and the old… Read more

  • The Irony of This Pope

    The more I read about Pope Francis, the more I deeply admire him. He just visited the home of his name sake: Francis of Assisi. What I find so challenging is here is a man who heads the biggest “institutional” church in the world, but lives with such prophetic joy. He challenges the religiosity of… Read more

  • Calling out the dream

    This past weekend I called out the dreams of God in a way I’ve just never tried before. I declared completely irrational things that I can truly blame as “the anointing.” 😉 Besides that, I sensed a strong call from the Lord to speak out the dreams HE is giving me. It’s not my ability… Read more

  • Why I pastor a great church!

    In our small church, we had 17 leaders go on our retreat. Among our leaders is Ida. She is a board member. On the day before her 82nd birthday she got on the zip lines with 10 others. She is fearless!  This is the church I love! Read more

  • Where Was the Church?

    Sobering questions from the latest news out of the Middle East. The saddest audience question was from a young man who I’m guessing was Egyptian-British. He asked: ‘Where was world Christianity when this happened?’ Nowhere. Watching X-Factor. Debating intersectionality. Or just too frightened of controversy to raise Muslim-on-Christian violence. Too often the response I hear,… Read more

  • What the Pope SAID

    The Pope wants to see the Church as a “field hospital.” Read more

  • This is what we do

    The power of the Kingdom of God can have an impact in so many ways. The kingdom is seen in a store line. Last night at Target as we were checking out, a man in the express lane was buying milk. Something with his transaction didn’t work. A young couple behind him noticed he couldn’t… Read more

  • The difference between success and fruitfulness

    There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available to large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits… Read more

  • Allegiance

    I love July 4, fireworks, patriotic songs, movies about the Revolution… all of it. That cop that sings “God Bless America” at Yankees games gets me every time I hear his wonderful tenor voice. But my allegiance isn’t here. It is in another land. Another place. Another kingdom. The country of my birth is a… Read more

  • Scariest Thought About the Tenderloin

    As we leave San Francisco, we have joy in our hearts. God is doing such an amazing work in the Tenderloin district through wonderful ministries like City Impact. Here is the scariest thought, though. What would this place look like WITHOUT the salt and light of the Church? It’s rough now. It’s a bit scary… Read more