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Why I Hate Mowing the Lawn
Having three boys I’ve been extremely fortunate over the years. I can assign lawn mowing duties. After they get to a certain age, that assignment costs me. It’s a cost I’ve been willing to pay. Now, I’m back to the lawn mowing duties. There are several reasons why I hate mowing the lawn. But they all pale to one: It’s…
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Bourne Again
Sliding Jeremy Renner into the main role, expanding the scope of what Treadstone and other “projects” that followed it were doing to national security, still keeping the Jason Bourne angle alive… all of it worked for me. The Bourne Legacy had the obligatory chase scenes. It had the variations on the theme of taking some vehicle up or down staircases in a…
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From Fishing to Shepherding
John 20-21 is a picture of the power of the resurrected life. N T Wright in his book, Surprised by Hope, walks us through a powerful picture of transformation. It is understanding that the resurrection makes all the difference. The resurrection means we move from what we are familiar with (fishing) to new territory (shepherding). Jesus won’t leave us in the…
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One Powerful Prayer of Jesus
John 17 is Jesus praying for his disciples. It is beautiful. In v. 17 I find one of the most powerful sentences in that prayer, with three incredibly powerful words. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. Sanctify: to make holy. To set apart. To consecrate. Truth: not just making correcting statements. It is living in Christ. It living…
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The Power of the Gospel
“The power of the gospel lies not in the offer of a new spirituality or religious experience, not in the threat of hellfire (certainly not in the threat of being “left behind”), which can be removed if only the hearer checks the box, says this prayer, raises a hand, or whatever, but in the powerful announcement that God is God,…
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Book Review — Creating a Missional Culture
“Missional” has been a buzz word for so many years it’s become a bit of a buzz kill. In some respects, the use of the word seems to me to be another way to create a conference and a nice roster of speakers. But there are leaders doing “missional” work and seeing what the Spirit is doing is vital. Over…
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Sizzle Always Attracts Headlines
When I blog, I actually try to come up with a snazzy headline. It doesn’t work, but I try. I know that when the Twitter feed or Facebook post pops up, most people only take in the headline. I get “likes” on some posts about three seconds after it hits Facebook sometimes, so I know they didn’t read the whole…
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The Challenge of Heaven
Surprised by Hope is full of surprises for me. It is an incredibly tough book to digest and process. I love NT Wright, and one reason I love his work is he takes me to the mental and spiritual mat time and time again. We need things in our lives that challenge us. Someone saw my “Minnesota Public Radio” sticker…
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We Want to be Liked, but…
I remember a pastor had a plaque on his office wall years ago that said, “I would like it if you liked me, but it’s not mandatory.” We simply want to be liked. We don’t want people responding in a “wrong way” toward us, or “taking us wrong,” or calling us things… like “bigots.” But… if we follow Christ, there…
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If you could ever pity politicians
I am inching my way through “Surprised by Hope” and came across this quote about the myth of progress over time. “Many people, particularly politicians and secular commentators in the press and elsewhere, still live by this myth, appeal to it, and encourage us to believe it. Indeed… the demise of serious political discourse consists not least in this, that…
