Here’s the article that got the ball rolling. Pastors are chiming in all over the web, so there’s a sense in which I’m not sure I could add anything to the discussion. On the other hand, it appears to me that some critical pieces are missing from the discussion, so here are what I consider to be some critical observations: 1. The Christian life is about Jesus Christ. It begins with Him, invites us to live in Him, and will... Read more
One of the books I’m reading right now is refreshingly pointed in reminding me that Jesus came to break down dividing walls. Listen to some quotes: “…the laws of religion, then and now, thrive on our need for outcasts. They codify who’s in and who’s out, what’s a right day for healing and what’s a wrong one, who’s pure and who deserves to be struck down with a disease that makes the untouchable.” In contrast to this, the author does... Read more
4:30 AM. I’m awake, packed, and walk into the guest room where I nudge my son Noah. “Wake up. Climbing time!” Once conscious, he too is up and packed, so that we’re on the road, by 5AM, cruising northward for an hour before stopping for breakfast at Denny’s. 7:00 AM. We leave the Denny’s parking lot just as the sky behind the Cascades to the east is brightening, as we drive together up a road we’ve driven hundreds of time,... Read more
I love the Old Testament, mostly because it provides me with an amazing picture of what it means to walk with God. Israel’s journey out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into the land of promise is filled with lessons and examples for us as we move from the slavery of our shame, failures, addictions, and fears, into the heart space of rest, peace, joy, and hope. One of the things we learn from Israel’s journey is that everyone faces... Read more
I will never, if I live to be 100, understand the wedding of a particular political party (left or right) with Christianity. The “religious right” days of the eighties, or the neo-religious right resurgence of the Tea Party, are both examples of politicians portraying themselves as “God’s Party.” It’s all reminiscent of the “Essenes,” “Zealots,” “Pharisees,” and “Herodians,” four different sects afoot in Israel when Jesus walked on the scene around 30AD (you can hear about them here). His... Read more
I will never, if I live to be 100, understand the wedding of a particular political party (left or right) with Christianity. The “religious right” days of the eighties, or the neo-religious right resurgence of the Tea Party, are both examples of politicians portraying themselves as “God’s Party.” It’s all reminiscent of the “Essenes,” “Zealots,” “Pharisees,” and “Herodians,” four different sects afoot in Israel when Jesus walked on the scene around 30AD (you can hear about them here). His... Read more
School’s in, and for those of you who read this and are in college, I’d like to offer a word of welcome. As the pastor of a church with lots of university students in it, one of my favorite Sundays of the year is the one when you arrive, back from your summer experiences, to jump into another formative year of education. As a pastor, I feel incredibly privileged to share, in a small way, in that formation. I know... Read more
School’s in, and for those of you who read this and are in college, I’d like to offer a word of welcome. As the pastor of a church with lots of university students in it, one of my favorite Sundays of the year is the one when you arrive, back from your summer experiences, to jump into another formative year of education. As a pastor, I feel incredibly privileged to share, in a small way, in that formation. I know... Read more
I came home yesterday in the late afternoon and wondered, as I climbed the steps to my upstairs office, how our backyard redwood tree had managed to grow so rapidly that I could see branches wafting in the breeze through the office window, some 35 feet from the tree! I looked out and saw the terrible truth that the tree had moved. Our redwood had three trunks and now has only two, as one of them fell yesterday, across the... Read more
At end of his life, Paul declares that he’s not done growing spiritually when he says, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what Lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I... Read more
Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything
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