Apprentice 2 Jesus

Culture

  • The future of the American Church

    You might remember “Veggie Tales.” Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales) has a podcast he’s been doing for several years with Skye Jethani and Christian Taylor. It’s now called the Holy Post Podcast and I look forward to it every week. Phil is the funny man and for the first half of the show he… Read more

  • The cultural status of our Christianity

    I am taking a bit of a break from my normal daily lectionary reading and going back to something I have enjoyed my adult life walking with Christ. It is to walk slowly through a book of the Bible and pray. I like walking through a book of the Bible and study, pray, think devotionally,… Read more

  • The way of community

    “I still think that the only solution is the land, and community, a community which is unjudging and which forgives ‘seventy times seven,’ as Jesus Christ said. We who think in terms of community at least have the assurance, the conviction, that we are on the right path, going in the right direction, taking the… Read more

  • Public grief and social media

    The tragic loss of Rachel Held Evans last week demonstrates how messy grief can be in our lives. Add to that the unforgiving terrain of social media, and it’s a huge mess. Read more

  • The transformational possibility of education

    “I think back to my college years and am so grateful for a university — the University of Chicago — that gave me the open stacks where I could find The New Masses, and had the gall to force me to read a book that at the time I truly hated. A school can transform… Read more

  • The plantation visit

    Traveling with visiting family the past few days we had an opportunity to learn a lot of history in and around New Orleans. Our last stop was a former sugar plantation called “Laura Plantation.” Read more

  • Echo Chambers and the American Church

    My daily reading takes me through four major portions of Scripture each day. One of my Old Testament readings this month has been a journey through Jeremiah. This has ignited my thinking once again into a long process the Lord has taken me through over the past 3 or so years I’ve called “Living in… Read more

  • Reading (and listening) Round Up

    From time to time I like to look back and see what I’ve been reading and what has been challenging my thinking and my prayer life. Read more

  • True justice is not into shaming “the other side”

    Today’s cultural environment has a call for “justice.” The danger is that in some segments, that call is also coupled with a “calling out” meant to shame a particular person and drive them from our visual existence. David Brooks has an excellent column HERE to dive into that segment. Justice has to move past vengeance… Read more

  • Re-evaluating “Living in Babylon”

    Over the past week I have been trying to slow down my thoughts and put into motion what I needed to have written 3-4 years ago. It’s been a vision and word that has been urgent, but I’ve been timid. I preached on it and was ignored. That happens all the time anyway, so I… Read more