I have come to Exodus 19 in my walk through the Pentateuch. Every step of the way in this journey has been a sacred walk. A holy walk. Every stop along the way is like I am coming to sacred ground. Exodus 19 is certainly one of those spots.
Read moreAmerican Christianity and the crash and burn style of exalting youthful leaders far too early
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast series took a week away from the Mars Hill story and focused on another aspect of what has happened in the last few decades in white American evangelicalism through the story of Joshua Harris. If you are not familiar with I Kissed Dating Goodbye and that saga, it gets explained in the podcast.
The host also has an interview on the podcast with Joshua Harris and it is a good interaction.
Read moreA grievous loss
When Terri and I were moving from Minnesota to Alabama, part of our trip included an audiobook called The Anglican Way. It was a time in our lives of major shifts. A major move. Moving away from ministry into something that was a complete unknown. And knowing I was moving away from the denomination I was raised in and had been a minister for 30 years.
Read moreThe development of toxic leadership
Scot McKnight, author A Church Called Tov, has a regular column he writes through substack, so this may be behind a paywall. His concern these days revolves around toxic leadership, how churches are blind to it and actually develop it, and how to change church culture to move away from that model when looking for the next leader of their church.
Read moreThe way of nonviolence is through prayer
I am finishing my reading of The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson. In the end, he wraps up his thoughts by helping us understand prayer all over again. It is the language of the Kingdom. It is THE way to follow the WAY.
Read moreWe will be held accountable for the abuse we have heaped on others inside the church
I am working my way through the Christianity Today podcast series: “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” As this podcast unpacks the undoing of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll, we still see the same things playing out in real time… like we just can’t learn anything from examples that have gone before.
Read moreDeep sorrow in our world
This past weekend brought compound tragedy into our world. The earthquake in Haiti, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the ongoing spike in COVID…
It has been sorrow on a magnified scale. How do I pray?
One great help to me over the past few weeks is to pray the Great Litany regularly. It is a helpful prayer that covers so much and guides me when I lack words. It is also helpful to be praying through the psalms.
I lift this before the Lord today:
Psalms 82:3-4
Give justice to the lowly and the orphan;
maintain the right of the poor and the destitute!
Rescue the lowly and needy,
Deliver them from the power of the wicked!
Lord, have mercy.
Quick observations on Exodus
I heard a preacher say (probably more than one preacher): Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years knowing he was nobody; and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody.
Read moreWords matter
I will say this plainly: the derisive use of “CRT” and “woke” among (mostly) white male evangelical/fundamentalist leaders and “authorities” is the 2021 version of the “N” word in the 1960s. Words matter. HOW we use those words matter.
Read moreOur serious lack of discipleship in one picture
For every category of Christianity, it is the vast MINORITY who see their allegiance as a Christian as more important than being American.
This is the great failure of discipleship in American Christianity.
