Apprentice 2 Jesus

Church

  • My Great Loves

    Happy Valentine’s Day! I confess my great loves today. First is my great love for God. I spent this weekend in a “silent” retreat contemplating Ephesians 1-3. I love Ephesians. For the past 15 plus years of my life it has been bedrock to my life. Once again I was blown away by my God’s… Read more

  • Really… Does Truth Matter?

    I hear clips like this one, and realize millions listen to this guy… Honestly, do we even CARE about truth anymore? Read more

  • Quit Competing with the Entertainment Industry

    Stanley Hauerwas on Liturgy. Read more

  • Why I am Sacramental, Part 2

    I need an addition to my affinity for the sacramental life. Another deep appreciation I have for the sacramental life is the love for the Church. There is a solid connection to the Body of Christ. There is probably not one person in the Church that has not suffered some form of abuse in the… Read more

  • Why I am Sacramental

    Really, I’m probably not. I tossed between “Orthodox,” “Liturgical,” “Mainline,” or something else. What I appreciate so deeply in my life is the addition of the meaning of the Lord’s Table. I have a deeper love for liturgy. Public prayers. Reading of Scripture. I have a deeper appreciation for the love of the Church. I… Read more

  • Why I am Pentecostal

    This is an attempt at a series. I doubt I will post regularly enough on it to be meaningful, but there are some things I want to try and lay out, even in rudimentary form. I begin with I know best: I am a Pentecostal. I was born into a family that went to a… Read more

  • The Search for “Home”

    I met with a former student today and we caught up on life. Over the years I have gained a deep appreciation for all the streams of Christianity that have come through the centuries, so when I see people exploring streams other than the one they grew up in,  I’m interested. He has reached a… Read more

  • Prayer Retreat

    For those in my church, or those in the Cities and interested, we are doing something different with our prayer retreat this year. It will be February 12-13 at the Benedictine Center in St. Paul. The focus will be on silence and meditation. Rooms are for individuals and space is limited. The cost will include… Read more

  • The Patriarchs, the Maccabeans, and Us

    There has been a strange interweaving of stories in the past few days in my life. Over the past week I have studied I Maccabees in the Apocrypha and preached on Hanukkah and the Maccabean Revolt. I posted earlier on lessons learned from Mattathias and the Maccabeans. Then, I was given this link from a… Read more

  • Love for the Church

    I am working through Acts 20 for the class I am teaching. As usual, I am so humbled by Paul’s incredible heart for the church. He pours out his heart to the Ephesian elders and lets them know the high price of pastoring. My question is this: In today’s church environment are we training church… Read more