I want to spend some time this Lenten season reflecting how we naturally walk with Mary and Peter to the Cross, to Easter and then on to Pentecost. When I wrote The Real Mary, the one theme that came home to me was this: to follow Mary is a walk to the cross. She’s an excellent subject (as is Peter) for a journey through Lent. I begin with this: Mary is more than a Christmas creche figure; Peter is more... Read more
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more
Parents and pastors, friends and co-workers… this deserves our attention. Stress levels for Americans have taken a decidedly downward turn across the USA — except for young adults, whose stress is higher than the national norm, says a survey to be released Thursday. Those ages 18-33 — the Millennial generation — are plenty stressed, and it’s not letting up: 39% say their stress has increased in the past year; 52% say stress has kept them awake at night in the... Read more
Last weekend Kris and I were in Grand Rapids for the Mars Hill Collaborative, an event for Youth Workers sponsored by the good folks at Mars Hill. Most especially, this event and the themes and the strategies is shaped by Steve Argue — a friend of ours we met at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary years back — and his fine team of leaders and volunteers. The Collaborative was one of the most stimulating events I’ve participated in — ever. Not... Read more
We do have the platypus, the coqui, the bandicoot, and the tarsier. All of these are in some sense “intermediate” between major groups of living animals. Recently I’ve been reading Robert Asher’s new book Evolution and Belief: Confessions of a Religious Paleontologist. This book provides an interesting lay-level explanation of evolution. Robert Asher, Curator of Vertebrates at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, is not an atheist; he does not rule out the existence of the supernatural or spiritual. He is,... Read more
Fasting — tis the season, but that raises the question: What is fasting? Try defining it, and I’ll make a suggestion. Go ahead — in your mind define it. Here’s my suggestion: If, in defining fasting, we are tempted to define fasting as something we do “in order to” get something, I suggest we need to look again at the deepest wells of the Christian fasting tradition: the Bible. In Fasting: The Ancient Practices. I suggest that in the Christian... Read more
Here is the chart, measured by its own criteria, but there’s one gaping hole. The best game ever was when the Bears beat the Patriots. What was your favorite Super Bowl ever? Read more
What do you think? Will you miss it? The Postal Service said it would cut back to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages. Thanks in part to Internet commerce and communications and its own costs, the department lost almost $16 billion last year. It hopes to save $2 billion annually with the Saturday cutback. “Things change,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. The Internet is free, he added, “and you cannot beat free.” You can mourn change, however. The differing attitudes... Read more
From WSJ: ROME—Pope Benedict XVI intends to resign at the end of this month as he feels he lacks the energy to continue in the job, his spokesman said Monday. The pontiff announced his plans in the Vatican in Latin at a consistory meeting on Monday, the spokesman said. The resignation, which will be effective at 1900 GMT on Feb. 28, means that a new pope should be in place by Easter. Read more
Below is the outline I used, or most of the outline, in my opening session at the Mars Hill Youth Workers Collaborative, hosted at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids and facilitated professionally by Steve Argue. This session develops ideas into a new area that are found in my King Jesus Gospel. Where are you seeing “threshold” evangelism? How do you think about it? Many today think “threshold” evangelism, whether they call it that or not, is problematic, and wonder how we... Read more
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