I sit here and write this blog in between conversations. So far this morning I have had three conversations with people who attend ReCAST church. (After I wrote the previous sentence I had a great conversation with a young couple who just came through to grab a coffee and stopped to chat). I am…
I have recently been made aware of a particular woman with a large following who has made a list of unapproved theologians and pastors and authors. Of course, she is the common thread. Her list includes Daily Grace Co. Her list includes John Piper. Her list includes Tim Keller. Her list includes the Bible Project.…
While I was rereading ‘The Pastor’ by Eugene Peterson last week, I was struck again by the nature of my full time role as a pastor. I have a strange job. I am employed in the service of a people in order to shine as a consistent spotlight on the invisible God. He is there.…
Several years ago, I was more in touch with contemporary culture. I would blog nearly every week on Thursdays and I used my blog as an opportunity to exegete our culture, much like I use my sermons on Sunday to exegete a passage of the Bible. But something shifted, and I am not sure if…
God has created a world in which we experience time as past, present, and future. I cannot conceive of any other type of world, but I’m sure God can. For some reason, God seems interested in the progress of His creation. We learn from the past. We live in the present. And we anticipate the…
I don’t know how long you’ve been kicking around on this planet, but I’ve been here for over half a century. And that doesn’t make me any kind of expert. I could live here for centuries and still find surprises that would challenge my perceptions. But one thing that doesn’t take very long at all…
The shift has been subtle. Like the proverbial frog getting cooked in the pot as the heat is turned up in slow increments, it feels like we got here over years. In the 90’s Bill Clinton gave the entire country a framework of discussion surrounding the killing of babies in their mother’s womb. He declared…
Everything we see going on around us is merely the tip of the iceberg. You never really know another person. That waitress that brings you your coffee and your eggs and bacon is a person with a deep history, and deep internal thoughts and struggles. You see her smile. She is more than what you…
I’ve been back from an 8 week sabbatical for a few weeks and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to interact with a variety of people. I am grateful for the many who have asked how it went and what I’ve learned. But I still have a few people each week who ask and I…
My youngest just turned 18 years old on January 7th! Suddenly my immediate family is full of adults. It has been a journey. At times slow and a slog, and other times racing by like sand between my fingers. It took Einstein to prove scientifically that time is relative, but it took me raising kids…
I read 50 books this year spanning from the weighty “Systematic Theology” by Wayne Grudem to the tiny and quick, “Policy Governance Model” by Carver. A few of the books were indulgent science fiction fantasy novels that are not really worth a mention. Several of them were commentaries on a specific book of the Bible…
My wife is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. She gave birth to three quite sizable humans, without pain medication and barely a word of complaint. She is strong. I say that to set the stage for what comes next. Linda has been diagnosed with MS. She continues to be strong through this…
