Check out how often in John’s Gospel Jesus invites us to abide in him or in his word. Actually, both are the same thing: to abide in Jesus is to abide in his word. When Jesus invites us to abide, he is inviting us to be deeply at home in him. (You should hear the word “abode” in “abide”.) Recently, […]
We get them once in a while. They are little reminders from our King that he really is. Yesterday I sent an overdue note to a friend of mine who had had a major life change. The note was just to check in. There was a free moment as I sat in an airport waiting for a plane home. The […]
WATCH OUT I It’s good for us to be careful walking as a child of God in the midst of a sin-filled world. It’s not unlike being careful standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. I remember a story from a number of years ago about a little four-year-old girl who fell off the side of the Canyon and […]
Across America a farm-to-table movement continues to grow. People look for the freshest fruits, vegetables, and meats. We have grown suspicious of highly processed foods with unknown additives and preservatives. We are not sure where the food has really come from either in terms of location and producers. Is the food safe? Is the food healthy? Is it really food? […]
I think I’ll wear a chair. Not that I will wear a chair as such, but I will wear a chair necklace, a pectoral chair. Some pastors wear a crucifix, a cross necklace with a dead Jesus. Some pastors wear an empty cross, a cross necklace without the figure of Jesus. There is great symbolism and historical precedence for both. […]
(This repost is in celebration of summer vacations in Michigan.) People love sports. People relish the thrill of victory. Winner! People love games. Board games continue to be popular. Card games haven’t gone away. Some people love video gaming to the point of addiction. Competition! I win; you lose. You win; I lose. While competition may have its place as […]
Not only is the Church incurably congregational, it is also incurably “synodical.” Okay, that sounds odd. Synodical? That sounds like a made up word. Actually, it is an ancient word, at least the root word is: synod. Synod means walking on the same (syn—think symphony, lots of sounds at the same time) road (od—think Odyseus and his travels). The word […]
The Church is incurably congregational. Where ever God calls people to faith in Jesus, he calls them into congregations. The idea that “I can follow Jesus all by myself and worship him all by myself in a field” may represent rugged American individualism, but it does not reflect either Biblical teaching or historical Christian living. Christians gather together in congregations. […]
Read through your Bible every year. All of it. This is a drum I bang every chance I get. The point is to capture your imagination not burden your conscience. We meet Jesus in the word for he is the word. How would that change you? How would that change us? When I practice what I preach by reading the […]
How do you describe your congregation? Small, medium, large, mega? What about conservative, liberal, confessional, liturgical, contemporary? Is it dying, surviving, thriving? Would you describe it as a community of health? Whether you are a lay person or a pastor, let me encourage you to consider your congregation as a community of health. Is it one? What would it take […]