(Hemingway described writing as bleeding on the page. I think today’s post is a little more like that than usual. Sometimes posts come out in 30 minutes of writing. Sometimes they take 30 days to develop. Today’s is the latter. Thanks for taking time to read in this space). — 2 years ago I had…
Ministry for the One, Not the Masses
I grew up when the local church could fit 90% of people within specific life situation and age-focused programs. Here’s the basic flow: graduate from the kid’s program into a middle school ministry, from there you move into the high school ministry, the high school ministry naturally leads into a college ministry, and because nearly…
Finding Hope in an Irresistible God
I’ve always been fond of the doctrine of irresistible grace, also sometimes referred to as efficacious grace. The case for this belief or understanding within Christianity is usually connected to John 6:65 when Jesus has just told the disciples some of them didn’t truly believe. He follows that statement by saying, “This is why I…
Who is Art For? You or Others?
Maybe the title of the post poses the question in terms too exclusive, but there’s a lot of me-first propaganda out there for creatives to grab a hold of. When I published my first book a year a half ago, I never would have imagined that the subject of creativity and art would become a…
Pointing Fingers As People Walk Out the Back Door
Pastors are weary of what they call “the back door”—the people who leave without saying anything, giving the pastor no idea of why. The back door is one reason church life is difficult. People who you have given your life for sometimes leave at the drop of a hat. I’ve seen something interesting happen online…
Different Than We Imagined
Recently I’ve been studying books on the subject of heaven. Books such as Heaven by Randy Alcorn, Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright, and Heaven is a Place on Earth by Michael Wittmer. One of the overwhelming themes from all of these works is that heaven is not some immaterial place in the sky where the souls of Christians float…