Haunted

I’ve been thinking about a couple of conversations I had this week about demons, oppression, and deliverance.  I think that demonic influence in peoples’ lives is way more common and ordinary than occurrences of some Gollumesque creature that hovers over one’s bed at night.  While head-spinning, vomit-spitting deliverance may be needed in extreme cases, I [...]

A Dangerous Mission

Thinking about the kingdom this morning…
A little over a year ago, I began listening to teaching by Greg Boyd.  He’s written many books and preached many sermons over the years.  From the beginning, there was something about his heart for the kingdom that rings true and inspires my heart.
While browsing through his sermon archives one [...]

Calling

Yesterday, I read two posts that came from opposite ends of the spectrum regarding this topic. The posts and comments reflect a wide variety of views regarding the professionalization of ministry.
First Scot McKnight had a post about the informality demonstrated on the pastor pages of some websites. He said:
What annoyed me about these [...]

Wedded Bliss

In spite of the fact that we aren’t making out in the sand of an island beach today, my husband and I are celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary. With temps below 0F, it looks like we will be celebrating arctic style. Thanks honey for keeping me warm and happy for 27 years.
Other [...]

Review: Recover Your Good Heart

Recover Your Good Heart
~by Jim Robbins
Living free from religious guilt and the shame of not good-enough
About fully understanding the new heart and its new nature with the desire and ability to do God’s will, and discipleship and spiritual growth as a process of internal transformation rather than external behavior modification.
At times I felt that book [...]

A Lesson in Synonyms

Postmodern does not equal relativist.
Modern does not equal christian.
Truth does not equal certainty.
Mystery does not equal doubt.
Inerrant does not equal exact.
Narrative does not equal fable.
Missional does not equal social gospel.
Inclusion does not equal pluralism.
Justice does not equal democrat.
Christian does not equal republican.
Your thoughts?

Review: The Becoming of G-d

The Becoming of G-d
by Ian Mobsby
What the Trinitarian nature of God has to do with Church and a deep Spirituality for the Twenty First Century
It is difficult for me to say whether or not you would like this book.  It is dressed in the language of postmodern, emerging church, contextual theology. However, beneath that [...]

Election Day

Pick One

More on Communities of Transformation

I’ll be away for a few days. My parents are coming for a visit. They leave before Sunday. I haven’t told them yet that we don’t attend church.
These quotes by Jean Vanier from The Broken:
The sense of belonging flows from trust: trust is the gradual acceptance of others [...]

Communities of Transformation

I wonder if this is possible.
Our communities are filled with people desperate to unburden themselves in the presence of another, to be known at a level where the only antidote to disdain is grace, to sink beneath death’s dark waters while in the grip of a set of strong hands that promise to raise them [...]