Pop Culture Piety
Pop Culture is everywhere. It is implicit in what we read, what we watch, where we shop, even our choice of what brand of coffee to drink. Given this, Christ’s call to be ‘in the world, but not of the world’ can sometimes seem daunting to us. This blog will explore various topics within Popular Culture, and how we are called to live out our faith and ministry in these murky and ever shifting waters.
Preaching tragedy
I want to pose a question: Is a 13 minute sermon on the latest tragedy in the world helpful or edifying for the church? What do you think when a preacher ‘preaches tragedy’? Continue reading
Parking and the question of motivation in my prayers
Have you ever prayed for a parking space? Have you ever considered the motivations that lie behind your prayers? Why do you pray what you pray? Are your prayers more about the life of Jesus, or the life of the self? Continue reading
A promise for the hurting
There are seasons in life where everything seems to be difficult and troublesome, and sometimes In those places it is easy for us to feel that we are alone and that God has abandoned us. But is this true? Is there a promise we can cling to? Continue reading
Eliminating hurry
When we live in a world with so much noise and busyness, is the way forward really more activity? The only way we combat restlessness is by engaging in rest. Adding more activity onto a restless soul will simply keep it from experiencing the quietness in needs for its own restoration. Continue reading
Morning by Morning
My wife, who has a profound gift of noticing things I do not, said to me a while ago “Did you know that the first thing you do in the morning is to go look at your phone?’ She was, of course, entirely correct. What does it say about where my heart is directed, if my devotional life is pushed behind my emails? Is there a better way to enter the day? Continue reading
Does Jesus want me to be happy?
What is the ultimate goal of our lives? What are we called to pursue beyond all else? Or, to ask it another way, does Jesus want us to be happy? Continue reading
Chickpeas & the management of impressions
I keep chickpeas on my shelf to serve as a reminder that I need to continually put down my desire for approval, for accolades, for acceptance. It reminds me that my identity is to be based on who I am as a child of God. Continue reading
Rending hearts
If we rend our garments and not our hearts, at the end of Lent all we are left with are torn clothes. Nothing will change in our lives. Continue reading
Safe Jesus
Which Jesus do we want? Do we want a safe, inflatable Jesus—or one who can be uncomfortable, but is full of power? Continue reading
Kingdom fellowship
Fellowship demands grace and forgiveness. The fact is, we are fragile people. We have cracks and scars, and none of us are free from brokenness. As we live out our fellowship in Christ Jesus, we do so with the acknowledgement that we must continually cling to the gracious love of God. Continue reading
