Last weekend I spoke at our church on the subject of shame, a subject that holds lots of history for me personally. If you’ve read my book and know pieces of the story of my sin-ridden past, you know that I’ve walked the cycle of shame: sin, and guilt, which leads to hiding instead of confession…
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On a Boat in the Middle of a Storm
The older I get the more I see today’s culture validating toxic behavior, making this world a toxic environment to live in. The anti-thesis of the Gospel is the accepted norm: you are what you do; survival of the fittest; the hardest and most conniving worker wins the day. Stress is something only kept at bay…
Interview with Barnabas Piper, Author of The Pastor’s Kid
Barnabas and I have interacted together for a few years, mostly over our tortuous love affair with Minnesota sports teams. However, we also share another thing in common, we are both pastor’s kids; he being the son of a well-known pastor, John Piper, and me being the son of an unknown pastor who has been faithful to the call.…
Do You Condone Same-Sex Marriage by Photographing the Wedding?
This past Sunday I shared what I believe to be my most important message (you can stream the audio of that message here, as well as download the audio and notes), two years into my pastoral role. The subject was how Christians should respond to a culture increasingly accepting of same-sex partnerships and sexuality. Someone asked me…
The Allure of Parish Pornography
Eugene Peterson says that many pastors fall in love with ecclesiological pornography—fake pictures of church ministry—filtered so ministry becomes a glorified endeavor of glamour. Taking cues from the surrounding culture, we begin to desire something that does not exist. The snapshots we see of the ministry of glamour aren’t real. Upon starting seminary I worked as a…
A Church For the Community
In days long ago churches were built within neighborhoods, and were placed strategically as a unifying place and focal point for those within a certain community. As cars and mass transportation were introduced our understanding of a neighborhood has expanded greatly, and our church-going habits have changed along with it. Instead of walking to the church…