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The surrender of discipleship
I love the phrase I learned years ago: As a leader you have to give up to go up. As a leader you give up “rights” and “privileges” so you can keep growing as a leader. The whole point was to keep “rising” as a leader. Over the years I’ve realized that “rising” as a leader has a lot of…
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How to astonish the world as the church
As Jesus prayed for the church in John 17, he prayed a HIGH OCTANE prayer for us! We need to hear this call in our lives. As the church bears the Spirit, it also bears the “call of God to the world” because we are to live out the manifestation of the love and glory of God in the world.…
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Learning to weep with those weep
I will never have the whole Middle East thing figured out. (That will disappoint many conservative friends… and that’s just the way it is.) My heart breaks with the news I hear, the posts I read from missionaries, the posts I read from the churches in those areas. Rather than identify with those suffering, we are far too quick to…
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The root of discipleship
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2) Thoughts on discipleship come to mind every time I study John 15. “The growing disciple in whom the Father and Son live through the Spirit is…
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Knowing it is well with my soul
13 A joyful heart brightens one’s face, but a troubled heart breaks the spirit. 14 An understanding heart seeks knowledge; but fools feed on folly. 15 All the days of the needy are hard, but a happy heart has a continual feast. (Prov. 15:13-15) These verse are good indicators in my own life to know if it is well with my soul. When…
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If you’re going to tag a building to make a ridiculous statement…
If you’re going to tag a building to make a ridiculous statement, at least try correct spelling. What this says is, “We only want healthy eagles. No ill ones. Sick eagles are a pain to take care of.” I agree. They should send the ill eagles to Wabasha, MN at the National Eagle Center, or perhaps the Raptor Center at…
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The Political Jesus
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, it was a time the crowd decided to boldly make a play for his leadership. They laid out palms, as symbols of Jewish nationalism. They cried out for their King to save them… from the Roman oppression. Jesus wants our praise and celebration. “But too often we only see him through the issues…
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Let us be willing to die for something different
I want to know the feeling of “dying” for something different. By that I mean having a desperation for something that is just more. A place where I get beyond the internet fascinations of whatever is being discussed in the moment… and the tirades… to the possible. Not the possible of what can be done in human terms, but what…
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Living the Prophetic Voice podcast
“Living the Prophetic Voice” — Heights Church Sunday morning message, part of the Power of the Spirit series Subscribe in a reader or on iTunes
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Jesus will always divide the house
As I work my way through John, and Gary Burge’s commentary in The NIV Application Commentary, I am struck by Burge’s notes on the alienation Jesus will create. Jesus will ALWAYS divide. We can make our claims about “if Jesus were here he would obviously take up MY view and thus all sides would have to agree with me,” but in…
