People who read blogs like this one are often people like me. I like to live inside my head, so much so that there are days, (especially when I’m writing a book), that I never leave my chair. On such days, when my imagination is running wild, and I’m using the building blocks of letters, words, phrases, to create something, I don’t even notice my inactivity. “It’s good to think!” I tell myself, as I move from desk to kitchen,... Read more
Listen to these words by St. Augustine, which have the contemporary ring of today’s science vs. faith debate to them: Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and …this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such... Read more
I watched a movie recently entitled “God on Trial”, which recounts a trial held in an Auschwitz bunkhouse by Jews who have accused God of breaking His covenant with His people. The dialogue, questions, and accusations, are not for the faint of faith, for they bring questions about God’s character to the surface. God sanctions, and even commands genocides, inflicts plagues, makes David’s son die for David’s sin, and calls for children who disobey their parents to be executed. We... Read more
When I was in high school, I went to a conference where I received a red notebook which contained important and life-changing information about self-image. It was there I learned the powerful truth of Psalm 139, that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” and that I could wake up and look at in the mirror every morning believing that God had made me “just the way I am.” I tried, but could never quite get there because in my most... Read more
Back in the ’80s, I moved from Los Angeles to a small island, a jewel of green set amidst the glorious beauty of Puget Sound. I moved there to lead a small congregation of evangelical Christians as we, together, tried to learn what it meant to be the presence of Jesus in that place. At the time, Christian’s ire was directed against a vague emerging spirituality that was labelled “the new age movement.” Those railing against the movement taught that... Read more
I posted this picture on my Facebook account recently and oh my! People do feel strongly about Wall Street, and the Wall Street occupiers, about personal responsibility, government incompetence, and who’s to blame for the mess we’re in. My friends fall broadly into two camps: BLAME THE GOVERNMENT. We’re in this mess because the banking system is greedy and corrupt, and the government is either: a) spending too much; b) beholden to special interest groups; c) in bed with a... Read more
Churches are strange. If a steel plant closes in a Rust Belt city, you can be sure that there won’t be a new one opening in the same town where the one shut down. And yet, when it comes that thing called “church,” we’re living in an era when 3,500-4,000 churches are closing their doors in America every year. At the same time, there are roughly the same number of new churches opening their doors each year. As a result,... Read more
In anticipation of an upcoming teaching series I’m doing on Genesis 1, I posted the first in a series of considerations on the relationship of faith and science. You can read the initial post here. A great discussion ensued in the comment section, and there was one significant comment that’s should be pondered in some depth. Regarding the importance of our beginning assumptions they wrote: Do they start with God’s word, or do they start with man’s ideas? Everyone has... Read more
NOTE: I’m going to be blogging over at Patheos, at least for a few months. If you’re a Patheos regular, welcome to my blog, I’m a pastor, teacher, author, writing about how Christ changes everything. “Today’s generation are demonstrably less content, and consequently less optimistic, than those that went before. They work longer hours, with less security, and less chance of leaving behind the social background into which they were born. They fear crime, social breakdown, overdevelopment, environmental collapse. They do... Read more
If you visit this blog regularly, you know that I believe in the authority of the Bible as the final voice regarding what God has to say about our world, where it came from, what’s wrong with it, where history is headed, and how humankind can be restored to God. You know, too, that I believe in the uniqueness and centrality of Christ, and preach that He is indeed, the door, the way, the truth, and the life – the... Read more
Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything
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