“… in the contemporary churches, pietism, in any of its forms, represents a profound anxiety for success, for results, for reputation, for tribute to the conduct, practices or beliefs of churchgoers” (William Stringfellow, Count It All Joy, p. 92). I like William Stringfellow because of his insightful and pointed critique of the contemporary church. I’m sorry he’s gone. I love everything he wrote. The above quote was published in 1967. Here we are, almost 40 years later, and things are... Read more

Here’s an excellent statement: “Innovation often originates outside the existing organizations, in part because successful organizations acquire a commitment to the status quo and a resistance to ideas that might change it” (Nathan Rosenburg, quoted in Guy Kawasaki, The Art of the Start, p. 19). This is one of the issues of any institution, including the church. I read lots of material on the desperate need for innovative thinking to change the church. It is desperate for all the obvious... Read more

“The Chinese people had learned by experience that the Party trusted them more and liked them better if they didn’t think for themselves but just repeated what the Party told them” (Nien Chang, Life and Death In Shanghai, p. 18). I read this book years ago, but its impact never leaves me. It is a powerful autobiographical account of a woman’s imprisonment, deprivation, suffering and torture she endured at the hands of her own countrymen under Mao Tse-Tung’s reign, and... Read more

I want to tell you a story of something that happened recently. It’s stories like these that keep me doing church the way I do, and why I pastor in my style. It was a small group setting. We were catching up with each other. A young woman started sharing how she was feeling tons of condemnation and judgment. She’d grown up under a legalistic style of Christianity, and in her adult years continued to do the same. She’d been... Read more

Geez! I’m saying this lots this week, but I’m tired again. I’ve painted a couple of really nice watercolors, if I must say so myself. Check them out and bid if you like (click on “shop” above, and you’ll get there). All that to say that I’m relaxing now with my wife with some single malt and ET television. Commercial right now. I’m getting increased traffic on my blog and some interesting feedback, all of which I appreciate. Keep it... Read more

I appreciate all the comments I’ve received from many of you. I get anything from I’m not criticizing the church enough to I’m criticizing the church too much. Right off the bat, I want to admit I love the church. I confess it. I believe in it. But what I love is the actual church, the actual fellowship of believers. What I try to criticize are the “ideas” of church that swirl all around her. They are not her, but... Read more

Okay, listen… it’s late, and I’ve had quite a day, and I’m very, very tired. On top of all that, my 13 year old daughter went to her graduation dance simply looking too beautiful, and I haven’t had time to really focus on an intelligent blog entry today. But I have a thought: why can’t we just be humane? Definition please: humane (hu·mane adj) 1.    showing the better aspects of the human character, especially kindness and compassion 2.    without inflicting... Read more

Stringfellow equates the biblical “principality” to modern-day “ideologies” or “institutions” or “images”. He talks about the principality of Hitler’s “image” eventually possessing him—where Hitler surrendered to his image in the struggle for control. Public image is a principality that can become demonic in proportion. He also talks about how invitations to serve an institution are often invitations to bondage. He calls them “angelic powers”. He asserts that demonic doesn’t mean evil, but that it refers to death and fallenness. “No... Read more

“The children of God present nothing peculiar, nothing new, nothing that exercises a compelling power. And so, after standing for a moment in amazement before the comedy of an unreal communion with God, the children of the world turn away supported and confirmed in their knowledge that, after all, the world is the world. With proper instinct for the truth, they do not permit themselves to be imposed upon, and they are thus protected against any turning towards the ‘God’... Read more

“The curse of a godless man can sound more pleasant in God’s ears than the Hallelujah of the pious” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together). “When I write that my own situation in those months of pain and decision can be described as prayer, I do not only recall that during that time I sometimes read the Psalms and they became my psalms, or that, as I have also mentioned, I occasionally cried ‘Jesus’ and that name was my prayer, but I mean... Read more