We live in the first truly self-creating culture. You can actually make a whole new you. In the past, people were known by their relationships. Our last names are themselves family ties, suggesting that your […]
Informed but unformed — regaining the purpose of preaching
I was satisfied. The preacher had provided extensive background to the biblical text and I had learned so much from it. The historical context. The use of certain language in the text. How Jewish and […]
Grace is an Easter egg hunt
I’m tired of people taking bad about Easter egg hunts and how they miss the point of Easter. When Jesus was born, there were some people who knew their Bibles pretty well and who could […]
How to receive a gift
Gift-giving can be tough business. But often, receiving gifts is even more difficult. And some of us are downright terrible at it. Recently, my 15-year-old daughter gave her friend a $15 gift card to the […]
It's better to be loved than to be awesome
St. Augustine began his Confessions with his most basic prayer: “May I know Thee, O Lord, and also know myself.” Dr. James Houston, founder of Regent College, calls this the double-knowledge. The two kinds of knowing […]
The cross & the empty tomb — bringing love and power together
The cross of Jesus is the love of God in action. The empty tomb of Jesus is the power of God in action. The problem with human love is that it lacks the power to […]
How has Easter become the most predictable Sunday of the year?
I don’t get sunrise services on Easter morning. When I look back over my life of church stuff, I can’t remember a sunrise service that I liked. I never wanted to get out of bed. […]
The Dreary Passages — finding God in the dull parts of the Bible
I love the Bible. But not all of it. I know I’m supposed to, but there are parts that I struggle with. And the parts I struggle with most are the parts that cause my […]
Life after Mom — Sufjan Stevens and how to forgive your parents
I got a phone call after midnight last night. It was my Dad. My Mom had fallen down and he needed my help getting her up. So, I quickly got dressed and walked over to […]
The gospel according to Sufjan Stevens
It’s Holy Week — the week leading up to Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter — and Sufjan Stevens has dropped a new album. He couldn’t have timed its release any better, for the album […]
It's not about Me (it's about Us)
In the original stage play of The Sound of Music there’s a song called “No Way To Stop It” that didn’t make it into the more famous movie. It’s sung by Max (the family friend […]
"I thirst" — the 4th saying of Jesus from the cross
The first words Jesus speaks in John’s gospel form one of the most penetrating questions we as humans will ever be ask: “What do you want?” (John 1:38) We all have our wants. Some are […]
Laughter as liberation
One of the joys of the internet and social media is the many humorous posts and memes and photos and videos that are continually shared online. Laughter is liberating. Laughter liberates the weighed-down soul. It […]
Daniel, his friends & how to deal with culture
Daniel is best known for dealing with lions. He did. But just once. What he dealt with a lot was the new culture he found himself in, once he and his friends were dragged off […]
Of volcanoes and living missionally in a post-Christian world
We have lava in our backyard. I’m not talking about the red rocks that people people use for landscaping. I’m talking about the bedrock that Bend is built on — and there it is, sticking […]
The importance of small things
Awhile ago, a group of about 20 of us spent five hours working on a habitat restoration project at the Washington Family Ranch in central Oregon. The ranch occupies 100 square miles of magnificent desert, […]
Becoming fluent in love languages
“Don’t give her any attention. That’s all she wants.” “He’s such an attention hound. Just ignore him.” I’ve heard countless variations on the same theme my whole life, especially during my teenage years. There’s something […]
The cross, the dishes & the unpleasantness of love
Love is easy when it’s fun. Going on dates during the first days of romantic attraction is blissful. It almost doesn’t matter what you’re doing, simply being together is magical. Holding your newborn child is […]
Learning the Jesus way to be missional
When I was in college, I started writing a short play based on the Zacchaeus story. There was a man in our church named Bill who stood at an awesome 6’10” and I thought it […]
Worship that misses … on purpose
If every song and scripture connects with you in worship, it might be time to try another church. If what is included in worship is only as wide as your current experience, there’s a real […]
Smuggling the truth
I came across the following quote by movie director Danny Boyle from way back in 2005 in a great interview with Jeffrey Overstreet: “… you’ve got to be, like Scorsese says, ‘cunning.’ You’ve got to […]
Leadership is a pain! (And so am I when I'm leading well)
Sometimes, something someone says sticks with you and bothers you for days or weeks or years. Well, several years ago, I was in a meeting with a leadership coach, Kevin Ford, and he’s just said […]
Do we "owe" worship to God?
I came across an ancient Persian poem by a poet named Hafiz, written in the 1300s. It made me think of worship. Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, “you […]
Give it your all … but stop trying so hard
Soccer practice had just ended and I was ready to head for home. But the coach had a different idea. As the other boys trickled off to their cars and awaiting dinners, the coach pulled […]
A picture of our torn up praise
Awhile back, I came across a song by the band Phosphorescent called “A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise” and it has intrigued me ever since — not the song, just the title. Doesn’t our […]
Errors about Creation = Errors about God
“Any error about creation also leads to an error about God.” -Thomas Aquinas If God is the Creator, then thinking badly about and acting badly toward his creation is directly related with thinking badly about […]
A trinitarian view of being human that corrects our either/or approaches
I was reading an excellent article, nodding all the way, until I got to the point where the author made a distinction between two types of people and then sided with one of them. From […]
Political posts and the 9th Commandment
On any given day, anyone using Facebook is subjected to a bunch of political posts. I know that some people block or unfriend people who get too political (especially if they hold the opposite view), […]
238 miles of ABBA & the death of creativity
It took him more than five hours to drive to Chicago, during which time he listened to “Dancing Queen” by ABBA about 100 times in a row, stopping only for gas and other essential duties. […]
Sports, idolatry, and mission
The Incarnation. It’s a topic for sermons each December. God takes on flesh in Jesus and enters into our circumstance in the humblest of ways in order to save us. It’s one of the most […]
The importance of self-knowledge to exceeding our limitations
How good of a driver do you think you are? Top 50%? Top 90%? I don’t know where the stat came from, but years ago I read that 90% of Americans think they’re in the […]
Who are you? The real purpose of labels, names & identities
A friend of mine was once the victim of a clever prank that lasted for months. The person he and his wife had asked to house-sit for them removed all of the labels from all […]
Is humanity redeemable? Snowpiercer vs. Jesus
Occasionally, a movie will stick with me for weeks and months afterward. Sometimes, it’s a movie like Frozen with its tenacious “Let It Go” song, which won’t do what it suggests. Then there are movies of […]
Are we living in bad times or good times?
One of the worst parts of using Facebook is seeing all of the articles people post whining about how bad things are these days. It doesn’t matter what your political leaning is, there is plenty […]
Teddy Roosevelt and manliness
I recently finished the Pultizer Prize winning biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. It is a fascinating telling of the years leading up to Roosevelt’s presidency. But one of the themes that […]
Eating as education
So, they decided to serve chocolate milk at my son’s elementary school again. They’d stopped. But now they’re at it again. The reason? Kids didn’t like the regular milk as much. I get it. Kids […]
Facebook and the story of your life.
The Facebook experience has been analyzed from pretty much every angle. But there’s one angle that I’ve yet to come across and that’s Facebook’s role in creating a personal narrative. With every post, every person […]
Of love and technique
My three boys and I love soccer. I played as a kid and have coached my boys during their early years of playing the game, stepping aside when I got to the limits of my coaching […]
Doing things that I hate when other people do them & the gift of laughter
I used to wear a watch. Now, I have an iPhone. (But that trade is a story for another time.) Back in the days when I wore a watch, way back when I was in […]
Equality: a poor substitute for love
When our culture treats one group of people badly, we seek justice through attempts at making a level playing field for everyone. At such times, these attempts at equality are necessary and helpful. But that’s […]
In praise of tables
I’m sitting at a coffee table right now. It’s a rough-cut, slapped together affair that’s not all that flat and full of dings. But it’s over a century old and cost us nothing and it’s […]