“I am learning that a man can live profoundly without masses of things.” I don’t really own too much. I’ve tried to have a rule since my college days, that if I own more than what I can fit in my car, then I own too much. I think minimalism is becoming a thing, or it has already become a thing, but I’m not sure that I’d fit under that category of being “minimalist”. I guess i’d say its more... Read more
A friend asked me the other day, “What are my top 5 values…” I stumbled over my answer and I think I gave her three, and I don’t even remember what those were, so I’m pretty sure that means they aren’t really in my top 5 values. But it got me thinking about Paul, particularly in Philippians, the famous, “cursing verse,” where he says, “I consider everything a loss… I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8) Paul... Read more
What you believe is really important. You can have correct theology and correct doctrines, can have success, can be blessed, and yet still miss out something. You can be right and still be wrong. You need wonder and study, rigor and revelation, an integration of both the head and the heart. To have the facts and yet still be somebody who wakes up each morning and asks, “what is today going to bring?” I like wonder. I like believing. Maybe... Read more
I spent my childhood growing up in a medium sized southern church. I was the pastor’s kid, so of course there was a little rebel in me. Though what 4 – 9 year old boy doesn’t have a rebellious side to him? Every single Sunday it seemed like I was breaking rules. Playing with the drum set on stage, running in the hall ways, drinking the communion juice post service… (more…) Read more
It’s kind of weird how I am able to step on stage in front of a thousand people, and tell my testimony – but it’s hard and a near impossibility for me to sit in front of three people and share my story… I think the difference is intimacy. I, like many others, fear intimacy. We fear intimacy because… (more…) Read more
“So like, how much longer do we have?” I asked Andrew, in my best stoner-esque voice possible… He was cordial enough to give me a courtesy laugh… We had been driving for maybe 10 minutes at most, not yet even outside of Orange County, on our 9 hour journey up north. We started off talking about our mornings, the weather, and then it somehow, as it always does, ended up being about theology, church, and of course predestination, which annoyingly,... Read more
It’s taken me a while in life to come to realize that I can choose my friends. I can choose who I let in, and who I don’t let in. I may not be able to choose how people talk to me, but I can choose how much or how often certain people talk to me. It’s crazy, how much time I’ve spent with people who have treated me poorly, who have lacked respect for me, and who could careless... Read more
I could feel it coming to the surface… boiling up inside me, ready to spill over. As time went on it had become worse and worse, every time we hung out, it was like he added another mento to the already shaken 2-liter bottle of Pepsi… (I blame this analogy on working in youth ministry for the past 10 years). I had to say something. But I didn’t want to say anything. I knew it’d be easier to just let... Read more
We sat in silence, as the head pastor stood next to one of our churches elders. Ed, was in his mid to early 60’s. Had a wife, 4 kids, 2 recently born grand children, he had in the last month been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctors were giving him 6 months, at best. After praying for Ed, he spoke to us… (more…) Read more
After becoming a Christian, I went to therapy. Yeah… I literally went to therapy because I thought that I’d completely lost it and gone crazy. I mean think about it: (more…) Read more
Andy Gill
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