Holiness and Christian Culture – Apprentice 2 Jesus

Kindness

“Kindness frees us from the cruelty that at times infects human relationships, from the anxiety that prevents us from thinking of others, from the flurry of activity that forgets that others also have a right to be happy.” — Pope Francis, On Fraternity and Social Friendship (p. 103)

The prophetic stance of the Kingdom

To walk in the prophetic

There were some crazy ideas of “the prophetic” when I was growing up and then when I was early in ministry. There are still some wild ideas about what it means to be “prophetic” even today. Some things just keep recycling. Here is what I have concluded as I keep walking through Jeremiah and DanielContinue reading “To walk in the prophetic”

The way of holiness

“But holiness is in wild and furious opposition to all such banality and blandness. We are introduced to it through the stories of the burning bush in Milan, the mountain on fire at Sinai, the smoke- and angel-filled temple in Jerusalem. We find ourselves in the presence of God alive, with life far in excessContinue reading “The way of holiness”

The temptation of the stage

We all face it as Christian leaders. It’s the temptation of being “up front.” There is a level of influence we have that we pretend to “not want,” but down deep… we like it there.

Dealing with anxiety

This summer has been an increase of pressure in my life. Most certainly know this, and this summer has been one of those time periods for me. Add to that all the craziness in our world and what we have is a toxic mixture of anxiety.

Touching the leper

We have struggles with how to “be the church” in western Christianity. Do we invite people to come in? Do we just plunge ourselves “out there”? How much do we get “involved” in other peoples’ lives?

The prophetic center — Why I can’t stay quiet any longer

I posted on Facebook, linking to an article about these crazy “anti-Sharia” rallies that took place yesterday. We had one in Minnesota that was small in number and big in coverage.

Why do we live so badly?

“THE PUZZLE IS WHY SO MANY PEOPLE LIVE so badly. Not so wickedly, but so inanely. Not so cruelly, but so stupidly.

Words matter

Our words reflect the deepest part of who we are.