Gone for the week…

After Seven24 tonight I’ll be heading up to Lake Arrowhead for a church staff retreat, and then when I get back on Tuesday I’ll be leaving immediately for the Grand Canyon.  I’ll be back on Sunday in time for Seven24.  Have an awesome week, and I’ll be back to posting next week!

The word of the day is “Implication”

Last night I finished my message for this Sunday’s Seven24 (and I’m embarrassed to say that’s the earliest it’s been done in quite some time). If all goes according to plan this will be, by far, the most interactive talk I’ve ever given. Rather than walking through the passage and breaking it down [...]

My wife’s comments on my blog…

I just told Christie the title of my most recent blog post (which admittedly wasn’t the most exciting title in the world). Here is her reply:
“Geez, that is what you wrote about?!?! You are so dull! That’s the most boring title ever! I’d rather read a research study about rats!”
Ok, fine, maybe she has [...]

Church/state issues in Britain and Barack Obama in The Economist

There were two particularly interesting articles in this week’s issue of The Economist. The first was an op-ed piece commenting on Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ suggestion that “the symbiosis that existed in practice between the law of the land and Muslim institutions, especially those that regulate marriage, property, and inheritance, should be recognised [...]

Outkast + Folk singer = Brilliant

So, this isn’t quite as cool as 207 people freezing on cue in Grand Central Station….but it’s dang close.

The Cost of Nondiscipleship?

One of my all-time favorite book is The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In it, Bonhoeffer draws a distinction between what he calls ‘cheap grace’ and ‘costly’ grace, and he essentially makes the argument that discipleship is something that cost us something, but that the cost is worth it. Recently I started reading [...]

A very cool college ministry blog

My former college pastor Rhett Smith recommended this blog, exploringcollegeministry.wordpress.com, to me last week.  A guy from Texas named Benson Hines is on a year long road trip visiting college ministries around the country.  It’s been interesting reading about his experiences. He just passed through San Diego a couple of weeks ago, so we missed [...]

Leadership, Failure, and Authenticity

This morning I spent my entire two-hour train ride from Oceanside to Los Angeles working through chapter 4 of the workbook Learning to Lead, which was an assignment due today for my Biblical Organizational Leadership class at Fuller. The chapter dealt largely with the concept of failure in leadership, an idea that I’ve been thinking [...]

Wrapping up Preaching Re-Imagined

Last night I finally finished Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt, a book I’ve blogged about quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. All things considered it is a worthwhile read for anyone entrusted with the responsibility of teaching people in a church setting. I’ve discussed the book with one of my [...]

Some interesting thoughts on heaven

N.T. (Tom) Wright, a bishop in the Church of England and one of my favorite theologians, recently did an interview with Time magazine discussing the concept of heaven. It was fascinating to read the thoughts of such a respected voice in the Christian world speaking about a subject that is so widely discussed in [...]