Eugene Peterson wrote, in his book Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, "Jesus' imagery, to be followed soon by his sacrifice, is totally counter to our culture of more, more. Could Jesus have made it any clearer? We don't become more, we become less. Instead of grasping more tightly to whatever we value, we let… Continue reading Advent Day 10: Matthew 10: Following Jesus is an Upside Down Business
Tag: discipleship
Advent Day 9: Matthew 9: The Things Jesus Says
I'm still thinking about chapter 8 to an extent–that Jesus we follow who mixes and mingles and heals people that we typically reject. Jesus didn't consider himself better than them–which is exactly how we tend to think of most people. We tend to stick with our own because it's comfortable for us. I'm not necessarily… Continue reading Advent Day 9: Matthew 9: The Things Jesus Says
Advent Day 6: Matthew 6: Continuing to be Different
Read: Matthew 6 Let's be short today. Maybe. Matthew six is a chapter that has been abused and misused by preachers throughout the ages. And by pew-sitters too. I'll be honest when I say that it is not a terribly complicated passage of Scripture to understand, but it's not necessarily easy to understand either. It's… Continue reading Advent Day 6: Matthew 6: Continuing to be Different
Advent Day 5: Matthew 5: The Things We Often Forget
Read: Matthew 5; Galatians 5; Exodus At its very core, Advent is a time to think about the first coming of Messiah and, perhaps, to telescope that thinking into the future and his Second Revelation. When we take the time to pause and think about the Advent of our Lord, we are pausing to note… Continue reading Advent Day 5: Matthew 5: The Things We Often Forget
Perpetual Embarrassment
Back several months ago my car was totaled. The road was icy. The temperature was cold. The driver was inexperienced. The hill was steep. And the bend in the road fairly sharp. All this combined equals a destroyed rear-end of a car. The rear-end is worth more than $3000 in damage repair. The car still… Continue reading Perpetual Embarrassment
Book Review: Thriving in Babylon
I love when a book just sort of 'shows up' and it has immediate relevance to my life or ministry. Such was the case with Thriving in Babylon. I was searching through the David C Cook offerings on NetGalley and this book just appeared…I'm fairly certain I heard the sound of 'ahhh' sung by angels… Continue reading Book Review: Thriving in Babylon
Book Review: The End of Me
Back in the day when I was still invited to stand in the pulpit each week and preach, I once had a crazy idea after reading a book by Eugene Peterson. Actually, Peterson's book began sparking little fires in me that I simply could not control. He eventually wrote five volumes in a series of… Continue reading Book Review: The End of Me
Book Review: Help My Unbelief
Every time I get ready to write a book review, I start to feel like I'm about to do something huge–like lead worship with feeble guitar skills, or send out the starting line-up for a little league game, or get in the ring with a prize fighter. It's always nerve wracking and it's always a… Continue reading Book Review: Help My Unbelief
Book Review: Messy Grace
Many, may years ago when I was still young, I felt I was being led to be the preacher of a certain church. I began going through all the motions–sending a resume, sample sermon, meeting families and members of the church, preaching trial sermon(s), and finally submitting to a vote of the congregation. During the… Continue reading Book Review: Messy Grace
Book Review: Unoffendable
I have a friend who pretty much believes that even when Brant Hansen breathes it is funny. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but in truth, Brant is funny and I am grateful to my friend who 'introduced' me to Hansen several years ago. (To be sure, Brant doesn't know me, didn't ask me to… Continue reading Book Review: Unoffendable
Book Review: Bringing Heaven to Earth
Title: Bringing Heaven to Earth At Amazon: Bringing Heaven to Earth Authors: Josh Ross & Jonathan Storment Publisher: Waterbrook Multnomah Year: 2015 Pages: 215 I like to mark up the books I read with my pen. In this way, I will be able to go back through the book at a later time and note… Continue reading Book Review: Bringing Heaven to Earth
Book Review: Jesus Outside the Lines
Title: Jesus Outside the Lines Author: Scott Sauls Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers Year: 2015 Pages: 210 Disclaimer: Happily I was provided a free copy of Jesus Outside the Lines via Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my free and unbiased review of the book. Joyfully, I present to you my review–free of additives, preservatives, and… Continue reading Book Review: Jesus Outside the Lines
500 Words with John’s Gospel: Greater or Lesser
I came across a startling idea when reading John's Gospel and it has to do with greatness or greater. Great. Greater. Greatest. We have fun ways of delineating hierarchy in the English language. I always enjoy seeing words like 'greater' in a text because it makes me wonder what's just 'great.' It happens in John's… Continue reading 500 Words with John’s Gospel: Greater or Lesser
Book Review: How God Makes Men
Title: How God Makes Men Author: Patrick Morley Publisher: Multnomah Books Year: 2013 Pages: 190 Man in the Mirror [The FCC is convinced that you may somehow be led astray if I do not inform you that I received a free copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for this thoroughly unbiased and… Continue reading Book Review: How God Makes Men
Book Review: I Still Believe
Title: I Still Believe Author: Jeremy Camp with David Thomas Publisher: Tyndale Pages: 213 (plus photo spread) Date: 2013 [In order to comply with certain FCC guidelines, I am required to inform you that I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale Publishing in exchange for my review on my blog.] I went… Continue reading Book Review: I Still Believe
Life Under the Blue Sky: The View From Below 