Chronicle of the Journey

Back in the day, many of you counted on me to write about my personal journey. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, almost all of that kind of material has gone into storage or been deleted. Hopefully, this piece will recalibrate us all on the journey, but not cause quite the chaos in my environment as before.

Many of you know the start of this story, but you may find some new things in the retelling.

In April of 06, I felt God instructing me to resign from the church I was serving. It was the church our family called home for a decade. I’d served them for 12 years. I had no idea that it was the end of almost any sense of spiritual “home” at all, and the beginning of a season of much change.

In May of that year, my son left home for college. In June, my daughter married. A few weeks later she would move to another state and temporarily quit college. (She’s graduating OSU in a few days, and I am very, very proud. But at the time, it was tough.)Continue reading “Chronicle of the Journey”

Recommendations: Just Courage by Gary Haugen, Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis

One of the most optimistic developments in evangelicalism is the broadening commitment to issues of justice and compassion, especially among younger evangelicals. This has been reflected in many areas of evangelical life, especially in the proliferation of justice and compassion organizations and voices supporting an promoting them.

Evangelical justice concerns have broadened beyond world hunger to include issues like HIV/AIDS, orphans, genocide, clean water, slavery and sex trafficking. Advocacy for these issues is no longer the domain of large organizations or professional “social justice” advocates. Justice and compassion issues have now become front and center for ordinary churches, grass roots leaders, bloggers, emerging church communities and a growing network of organizations reflecting the advocacy of regular Christians.Continue reading “Recommendations: Just Courage by Gary Haugen, Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis”

Recommendation: New Birth or Rebirth? Jesus Talks With Krishna by Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias continues his Conversations With Jesus Series with New Birth and Rebirth: Jesus Talks With Krishna. (Other available titles in the series on on the same order page.)

Those of us who appreciate Ravi Zacharias as a mentor and teacher have enjoyed these books even as we realize the limitations of each one. The conversations are created from texts and teachings of Christianity and the religion/philosophy being examined. The little books aren’t great literature, but they are a clever way to get to the heart of another worldview and the claims of Jesus. Keep your expectations low if you are looking for a comprehensive discussion, but you will be surprised at what useful apologetic tools each one can be.Continue reading “Recommendation: New Birth or Rebirth? Jesus Talks With Krishna by Ravi Zacharias”

Recommendation: Christ Walks Where Evil Reigned by Emmanuel Kolini and Peter Holmes

Many evangelicals have an interest in Rwanda as a place where short and long term mission efforts are becoming more common. Two of my fellow staff members are quite possibly on their way to Rwanda as career missionaries. Resources on Rwanda are not easy to find. While there are some excellent films, print resources with detailed analysis and historical background are not exactly common at the local Christian bookstore.

Interest in Rwanda is also increasing as more American Anglicans find themselves in the Anglican Mission in America family, where Archbishop Kolini provides pastoral leadership. Many AMiA pastors and people have journeyed to Rwanda, have received Rwandan visitors and feel a bond to this country. Resources on the church in Rwanda and its particular opportunities are also rare.Continue reading “Recommendation: Christ Walks Where Evil Reigned by Emmanuel Kolini and Peter Holmes”

Ortland: Reduced to Jesus Only

From Ray Ortland’s blog, by way of 9 Marks.

Whatever divides us emotionally from other Bible-believing, Christ-honoring Christians is a “plus” we’re adding to the gospel. It is the Galatian impulse of self-exaltation. It can even become a club with which we bash other Christians, at least in our thoughts, to punish, to exclude and to force into line with us.

What unifies the church is the gospel. What defines the gospel is the Bible. What interprets the Bible correctly is a hermeneutic centered on Jesus Christ crucified, the all-sufficient Savior of sinners, who gives himself away on terms of radical grace to all alike. What proves that that gospel hermeneutic has captured our hearts is that we are not looking down on other believers but lifting them up, not seeing ourselves as better but grateful for their contribution to the cause, not standing aloof but embracing them freely, not wishing they would become like us but serving them in love (Galatians 5:13).

My Reformed friend, can you move among other Christian groups and really enjoy them? Do you admire them? Even if you disagree with them in some ways, do you learn from them? What is the emotional tilt of your heart — toward them or away from them? If your Reformed theology has morphed functionally into Galatian sociology, the remedy is not to abandon your Reformed theology. The remedy is to take your Reformed theology to a deeper level. Let it reduce you to Jesus only. Let it humble you. Let this gracious doctrine make you a fun person to be around. The proof that we are Reformed will be all the wonderful Christians we discover around us who are not Reformed. Amazing people. Heroic people. Blood-bought people. People with whom we are eternally one — in Christ alone.
There’s a lot of things I’d like to say, but this is so good that I’m just going to leave it alone…which I’m pretty sure some quarters of the blogosphere won’t be able to do.

Sabbatical Journal: The End/The Beginning

It’s 2:18 p.m. on Sunday, July 13th. The Reds are playing the Brewers. Denise and the dog are catching a nap. I’m getting ready to grill chicken tonight. Looks like it might rain.

Tomorrow, my eight weeks of sabbatical are over.

Tomorrow I’ll check my voice mail for the first time in eight weeks. I hate voice mail. (Fellow employees reading this- please send me an email, not a voice mail.)Continue reading “Sabbatical Journal: The End/The Beginning”

Riffs: The Briefing on “The Slow Death of Congregational Singing.”

NOTE: Please read the article I’m “riffing” on if you want to comment.

I’m sure other people have written about this, but The Briefing has one of the best articles you’ll find on what’s happening to congregational singing: The Slow Death of Congregational Singing. If you’ve been on Mars, it’s vanishing.

In its place we have a lot of songs that a lot of people don’t know, a lot of bad and unknown tunes, a lot of watching the worship team perform (especially if they are female of the right type and dress), a lot of forgettable, narcissistic lyrics, a lot of bad and inexperienced worship leaders, a lot of bone-headed thinking about congregational singing in relation to church growth, a lot of imitation of churches and methods that most congregations can’t imitate, a lot of lay people who simply don’t know how to sing at all, a lot of churches that don’t teach singing, a lot of turning congregations into audiences anyway and whatever else goes into the stew that does away with congregational singing.Continue reading “Riffs: The Briefing on “The Slow Death of Congregational Singing.””