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Hobo Funerals
We live next door to hobos. Literally. She has been hobo queen a couple of times. He has been hobo king a couple of times. When we first moved into our house, we hosted a hobo cookout in our backyard. The hobo queen is also a caregiver. They have live in foster care adults. One of those adults died a…
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Why Truly Pastoring Is Vital, and Why You Need to Belong to MY Church
New statistics are out. We LOVE statistics. And our survey says… Fewer people are going to church and more people are not “affiliating” with a religion. Shocking. We can wring our hands and declare the loss of the culture or the backslidden state of the Church… OR, we could equip the people we have to live as light in the…
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Gladiators
I am a football fan, and it gets harder and harder. One reason it’s hard is I grew up in Kansas City and the Chiefs are a lousy team. Other than than, though, the violence of the game and the bloodthirst we’ve created as fans has finally reached a point for me where I am not as excited about a…
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The Public Bus and the Church
Work with me on this one. I don’t ride the bus a lot, but this fall I’ve chosen to use it more. As I reflect on riding on the bus, I think of how the public bus might be a better reflection of what the Church should be, in some ways. There are certainly ways it reflects the Church in not…
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Evangelical “Right”, “Left”, “Center”…
Roger Olson has another thought-provoking piece on evangelicals and political movements. It’s always a tough read for me these days. What I witness too often are reactions. I grew up in the very conservative political movements of the “Moral Majority” and such. What I am witnessing today is a reaction that seems to say, “I don’t have to be Republican, so…
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Blame, Blame, Blame
The Islamic world is in upheaval again. Once again, Americans look for blame. We look to something we can quantify. Something over which we can wring our hands. Even after it has become fairly clear the horrific attack on the embassy in Libya were a coordinated effort that led to deaths of four Americans, we are still wringing our hands…
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Remembering and Mourning
Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. It was actually a Tuesday when the attacks happened. I was reflecting with one of my classes last week about things like 9/11. One thought struck me during that discussion is built on a conviction I’ve had for quite some time about 9/11. We haven’t properly mourned 9/11. In personal tragedy, if someone…
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Now That the Conventions are Over
A huge challenge I find in today’s American culture is to live prophetically as a believer when everything about our culture is more polarizing than any time I can remember. We need to remember our position as believers… and remember our allegiance. Some important thoughts: I am a Kingdom Christian, not a leftist Christian, a conservative Christian, nor any other…
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First World Problems
My youngest son is teaching me about “first world problems.” We have a third car. First world problem. And it’s a headache to say the least. I was telling a friend about an issue I had, but then said, “Definitely a first world problem.” To which my wife chimed in, “Yeah, but it’s a third world car.”
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The Root of the Human Condition: We All Want to be God
The root of human failure is the desire to be like God, or be God. We strive to fight off what is already set. We will be crushed if we keep thinking WE are “god.” Yet, we keep trying. A Russian billionaire is funding the next great project: Although James Cameron’s “Avatar” took place more than 140 years into the…
Category: Culture
