Apprentice 2 Jesus

  • The under-utilized ministry of a deacon

    One alternate text for the 5th Sunday of Easter this year is Acts 8:26-40, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.  Having grown up in a Pentecostal tradition, we didn’t have any true category for “deacon.” We saw “deacon” in 1 Timothy but in most churches that was translated to “board member.” It wasn’t… Read more

  • Israel, Palestine, and the Church

    We are human. In our all too “humanness” we tend to pick sides. Christians in Israel and Palestine have struggled in these conflicts. THIS STORY is tough to read and absorb because all that Christians have tried for decades in the arena of reconciliation just keeps getting shoved back into the ground. After decades of… Read more

  • Understanding context and rethinking Paul

    I have believed in women in ministry for as long as I can remember. Growing up in a Pentecostal denomination that had ordained women from the beginning, it was at first assumed in my thinking, then solidified by study over the years as I continually ran into people who didn’t think women should be ordained. Read more

  • Church hurt… where do we go?

    Just as the last post I shared a podcast on someone wrestling with their faith/theology/public belief, etc., and had areas I that resonated with me, this podcast is much the same. Read more

  • Selling off Christianity for parts

    This interview is a real gift for me. There were times in my life, long before deconstruction was the phrase to use, where similar shifts happened for me theologically. Read more

  • Give us shepherds, Lord

    I was as swept up on the “leadership” movement as anyone when I was beginning ministry. John Maxwell was my guy. I fell into his mantra of “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Read more

  • King: A Life

    King: A Life by Jonathan Eig is new work on Martin Luther King, Jr. There is certainly so much that is familiar, but thousands of pages of recently released documents plus interviews with neighborhood friends, church goers in King’s day, and more added new depth to King’s life. Read more

  • A prayer for the peace of the world

    I am long over my pre-tribulation rapture days and looking at “signs” in the Middle East and making wild predictions of the end of the world. Where I find myself these past many years is longing for peace. A longing to “study war no more.” There is a longing when I pray, “Your Kingdom come,… Read more

  • A deepening of my faith and calling

    Two recent books that have deepened my faith and calling: This Foundational Order by Dr. Tara Jernigan The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography by Dr. Alan Jacobs Read more

  • Living in faith and fire

    Hebrews 12:28–29 (NIV): 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”  Read more