“I’m a great believer in self-deception. If you asked me what makes the world go round, I would say self-deception. Self deception allows us to create a consistent narrative for ourselves that we actually believe. I’m not saying that the truth doesn’t matter. It does. But self-deception is how we survive” Errol Morris, documentary filmmaker, The Fog of War, Tabloid. I would much rather listen to somebody who is trying to figure out what they think, than somebody who already... Read more
I confess that I’m a sucker for the internet sidebar lists. I don’t want to be. I just am. You advertise anything on the side of an internet site and I will most likely ignore it. I think I might have intentionally clicked on one, maybe two sidebar advertisements in the course of the past year. But you put a sidebar with some kind of list I might be interested in? I’m in. Especially if it hits something with which I’m... Read more
_____________________________________ “If I could require every pastor in America to read Slow Church, I would. If churches would read this book and heed its advice, then ironically, I think the church would fast become a much more meaningful part of God’s mission of redemption.” _____________________________________ If the church has a future in the Western World, and if that future church is to provide any sort of alternative imagination to the current cultural values and norms of society, and... Read more
On the website wikiHow.com, there’s a short exercise you can take to tell if you are a racist. It’s only five steps so I figured why not? Step 01: Consider your judgments of what people wear, their hairstyles, headscarves, etc. Are these thoughts negative or justified? Given the fact that I’m middle aged and balding I’m fairly conscious slash jealous of anyone with a full head of hair, I’m not sure I fare well on this question. I think that... Read more
I confess that the release date for Shrink is less than two weeks away, and I’m getting nervous. A couple of weeks ago my wife opened a package from Zondervan containing a single copy of the book hot off the presses, the first we had seen. She walked it outside and held it up for me to see. At the time I was trying not to completely fumble the pork ribs I had on the smoker & my hands were dirty, so I... Read more
In a week of bad news, this makes for a good Friday Funny. I just showed this to my boys. Their favorite line was, “with a tiny flag to give you hope.” Williams was such a funny and brilliant man. One more story & clip to share: I was a sensitive college sophomore when Dead Poets Society first came out in theaters. It was 1989 and I had just finished my freshman year at K-State and had pretty much had the... Read more
I live in Kansas City, where the line between Kansas and Missouri is somewhat obscured. Kansas Citians cheer for the same sports teams, we shop and eat on both sides of the border. Personally, I’ve lived on the Kansas and Missouri sides of the city, and have planted churches in the suburbs of each state. The Kansas City Star, one of the countries great newspapers, does an excellent job of covering both Kansas and Missouri politics, so it’s easy to stay up on... Read more
In Arthurian legend, The Fisher King is the latest in the line of kings chosen to live in the Grail Castle, guarding and protecting the Holy Grail. But the Fisher king is not a valiant quester like Arthur and his knights. The Fisher King is not actually whole. He has been wounded, uncomfortably, in the groin; an impotence that seems to extend to his entire kingdom. Unable to move about, he cannot participate in games, cannot go to war, cannot... Read more
This was inevitable, right? I mean, seriously, one cannot be terribly surprised to hear that the Acts 29 Network gave Mark Driscoll and his Mars Hill Church of Seattle their walking papers last week. The Acts 29 Network, founded by the machismo-driven and scandal-plagued megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll is an enormous, complex, and powerful force within contemporary evangelicalism. Network leaders had to have been spending an inordinate amount time dealing with Driscoll outbursts and the accompanying backlash. The letter to Driscoll and his board reads:... Read more
So, I’m attempting to come down from a bit of an unplanned blog hiatus. I didn’t mean to orphan the blog for a few weeks. I just needed some space from the daily grind of producing a post, mostly in order to engage with my family in a more intentional way this summer. I’ve been thinking about the fall and am exited to reengage here in my normal weekly rhythm. What better way to start back in than with a little... Read more
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