Apprentice 2 Jesus

Church

  • The American Church is incredibly sick and in need of healing

    What has the COVID-19 pandemic said about the American church? Who have we revealed ourselves to be under pressure? I am talking not about the virus itself. I am talking about the social crisis of the pandemic, which brought to light the ongoing experience of racism and injustice by ethnic minorities in this country. Read more

  • We have to hold powerful people accountable

    The series “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a devastating podcast series. It is a hard look into Mark Driscoll and the poisonous culture of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. But it needs to be told. And it needs to be heard. In my own group, the ACNA, more news comes out about… Read more

  • Why repentance still matters

    We carry an arrogance with us in American Christianity. “I didn’t have slaves, so how am I responsible for this so-called racism?” Or, “Our church doesn’t have abuse problems so why are you saying I need to repent? Repent for what? And then what?” Read more

  • The American conservative political church

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  • Our continued hardness of heart

    The past few years have done everything possible to crush the “eternal optimist” in me. Politics. Racial justice. Women in ministry. Sexual abuse in the church. I’m grateful that I cling to Christ. Yet, in my search for what the Church can do in Kingdom work, I continue to be crushed and disappointed. All we… Read more

  • We are not yet broken

    I love David French. He pulls no punches. This past week my own (new to me) denomination has been exposed for mishandling sexual abuse claims in a diocese. French highlights that to point out the ongoing problems we have in the American Church. Read more

  • The church can do better

    Twenty years ago the scandal of the Roman Catholic Church in Boston broke wide open with the series of stories of sexual abuse in the Boston Globe. Those revelations rippled through the Catholic Church year after year. I can remember the profound impact it had in the Twin Cities when I pastored there. Over the… Read more

  • Setting the world right

    “… evangelism, which will flourish best if the church is giving itself to works of justice (putting things to rights in the community) and works of beauty (highlighting the glory of creation and the glory yet to be revealed): evangelism will always come as a surprise. You mean there is more? There is a new… Read more

  • We always need an enemy

    As I work my way through Jesus and John Wayne I am struck by several things. Read more

  • Overcoming political ideologies BECAUSE Jesus is Lord

    N.T. Wright poses this question: “What would happen if we were to take seriously our stated belief that Jesus Christ is already the Lord of the world and that at his name, one day, every knee would bow?” Read more