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The 70/20/10 rule
Most good resources are taken from someone else (it’s not stealing if you give credit) and this is no exception. I took this from Coram Deo’s Bob Thune (https://bobthune.com/videos/the-role-of-a-gospel-community/) who in turn admitted to taking it from someone else. Look at the well-drawn picture that is the photo for this post. This road represents theContinue reading “The 70/20/10 rule”
Should we pray for persecution?
It doesn’t take a long time in the Sermon on the Mount before you realize that what Jesus says makes someone blessed is different from what most people think being blessed is. For instance, if you ask a cashier how she is doing and she responds, “I’m blessed” it is unlikely that you will inContinue reading “Should we pray for persecution?”
The most misunderstood wedding verse
I was a groomsman at a recent wedding and I was asked to give a devotional to the groom and the other groomsmen. What follows is a lightly edited (maybe sometimes heavily edited: speeches are always better on paper) version of that devotional. I have changed the bride and groom’s names to Susan and BenContinue reading “The most misunderstood wedding verse”
The words you say and when you say them
One of my new favorite movies is “The Pianist.” It’s a 2002 Holocaust film which depicts the true story of a Jewish pianist in Nazi occupied Poland. Near the end of the film (spoilers) a German officer lets him hide in an empty attic and regularly supplies him with food. Part of the genius ofContinue reading “The words you say and when you say them”
The power of reviling and the response of the gospel
I am convinced that the single biggest thing that keeps Christians in the West from being open about their faith is the specter of being reviled. Reviling is when someone says something false and damaging against you. Maybe you want to tell someone that they are in sin, but you worry that they will sayContinue reading “The power of reviling and the response of the gospel”
Ministry, Marriage, and the Delicate Balance of 1 Corinthians 7
1 Corinthians 7 is often put forward as the chapter on singleness. And while I do believe that it is the Bible’s most valuable chapter on that subject, how the Bible portrays singleness will–by implication– tell us a lot about what marriage is about. 1 Corinthians 7 states that singleness is better than marriage, becauseContinue reading “Ministry, Marriage, and the Delicate Balance of 1 Corinthians 7”
Love your church, whatever the size
After years of having a position of some church leadership, I’ve begun to get a feel for what people like and dislike about the church. But I have found that the things that I expected that people would dislike sometimes are not actually the biggest points of contention. For example, my church holds some culturallyContinue reading “Love your church, whatever the size”
The Emptiness of Modern Life and the Three Ships of C.S. Lewis
The unexamined life often comes with a sort of frenzy. There was a time, around when I first started driving, that my car radio and CD player stopped working. It is impressed in my memory because I remember not being able to stand the quiet. In fact, I remember shouting as I drove just soContinue reading “The Emptiness of Modern Life and the Three Ships of C.S. Lewis”
Joshua Harris and Arranged Marriages
If you swim at all in the waters of evangelical subculture, you know who Joshua Harris is. Though he has since retracted much of what is in the book and has even left the faith, he is most famous for writing “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” Published in 1997, the basic premise of the book wasContinue reading “Joshua Harris and Arranged Marriages”
Your church will die, and other encouraging thoughts
Ecclesiastes is a hard book go through. It talks much about death. It does so because death is a reality that is hard to live with, but a reality, if embraced, that will make you wiser. A sampling: “For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in theContinue reading “Your church will die, and other encouraging thoughts”
A desperate man in camel hair
John the Baptist was a lion of a man. He lived roughly, spoke passionately, and was killed because he wouldn’t compromise. But the most amazing part of his life was that his whole life revolved around making himself less and making much of Jesus. I named my son after him, and in the months leadingContinue reading “A desperate man in camel hair”
News, context, and anxiety
Most people know the feeling of being anxious. A big event is in the future, you don’t really know what is going to happen, and you feel a stress crawling up into the edges of all your thoughts. At its worst, the anxiety paralyzes you and you search for something to distract you from thinkingContinue reading “News, context, and anxiety”
By Balloon or by Car
“And the weakness of All Utopias is this, that they take the greatest difficulty of man and assume it to be overcome, and then give an elaborate account of the overcoming of the smaller ones. They first assume that no man will want more than his share, and then are very ingenious in explaining whetherContinue reading “By Balloon or by Car”
“Joker” and the uneasiness of criminal sympathy
Joker The 2019 Joker film was an interesting animal, but what I think was more interesting was the reaction to it. I think one of the reasons (and there are a few) that people were opposed to the film is that it painted Arthur Fleck (the man who became the Joker) in a sympathetic light.Continue reading ““Joker” and the uneasiness of criminal sympathy”
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