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When things go WELL in a city
It’s easy to get caught up in the stories of Baltimore, Ferguson, and so many more places and possibly think, “Wow… NOTHING seems to be going right.” What we don’t get to hear enough of is when things go WELL in a city. My city, where I pastor, is an inner ring suburb of the Twin Cities. In my time…
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Talking about sin and righteousness
David Brooks has an interview in “Christianity Today”online about his new book, The Road to Character. It is wonderful to read of his personal journey. It is also little wonder why many who prefer to live in a “secular” society (meaning no place for religion in the public square) rejoice over the latest Pew numbers are how many profess Christianity…
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America becoming less Christian
So America is becoming “less Christian.” I still think the number who “profess” is way to high, but that’s just me. The sad part is the desire to have LESS of a religious voice in the public square: While the number of Evangelicals hasn’t changed much, the number of unaffiliated Americans has, and they are becoming increasingly organized and vocal…
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Good people disagree
Remember when that used to be a thing? It’s not so much anymore. This is a time where I truly do pine for the “good ol’ days.”
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The choice of joy
The enemy robs through anxiety. Jesus restores through joy.
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Bigness and blessedness
My constant mantra in ministry to keep me somewhat centered on Christ and not just the stuff we do is this: “It’s a both/and world.” It’s analog. It’s digital. It’s huge. It’s small. It’s “attractional.” It’s “missional.” There are simply places for both. In the world. In the church. Yet, in American Christianity, we keep bumping into the same mistake.…
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The moral voice
David Brooks continues to be one of my favorite columnists in a the dying industry of journalism. In the past few years he has done more to raise solid moral questions for the culture and he does it without a shrill voice. (Shrill would describe a lot of the comments he gets in the “comments” section below his columns.) THIS…
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The goodness of people
I love the stories of people simply doing good. One story that came out this week was a man who walked to work more than 10 miles each way in Detroit. He wanted to work, he loved his job, and he wasn’t going to quit because he had to walk. It was a tremendous show of hard work and loyalty.…
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The Lobster Story
This weekend we had our annual Leadership Training at the church. It was an incredibly significant time because we are in the midst of huge transitions. Our church property is for sale, we’re looking at a new property, adding a business… and so much more. It is a call for transformational thinking. I centered my teaching around a great book called, The…
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The paralysis of politics has made the Church pathetic instead of PROPHETIC
Please do yourself a favor and listen to a repeat of this live stream. I couldn’t fast forward through it, so it was necessary to listen carefully all the way through as evangelical/conservative leaders talked about race, racism, and justice. The very first comments from a conservative black pastor caught me. He asked someone who had been in a conservative…
Tag: Culture
