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Trying to live like a whole committee of “selves”
“The outer distractions of our interests reflect an inner lack of integration of our own lives. we are trying to be several selves at once, without all our selves being organized by a single, mastering Life within us. Each of us tends to be, not a single self, but a whole committee of selves.” — Thomas Kelly, A Testament of…
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20 Years
We approach the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. We have, as a nation, not handled this event very well in our collective lives. It is hard to know how a significant anniversary like this will go. 20 years. A lot of change. A lot of shifting. A lot of revealing. 20 years. It is hard to know what lessons have truly…
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Walking with joy into the dark
“But there is a deeper, an internal simplification of the whole of one’s personality, stilled, tranquil, in childlike trust listening ever to Eternity’s whisper, walking with a smile into the dark.” — Thomas R. Kelly, A Testament of Devotion Lord, let me move from the age of busyness in my life… the internal struggles and turmoils… into this journey. A…
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A treasured journey
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.
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American 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…
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A 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…
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The 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…
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The 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.
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We 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.
