I think the day after God made the sun, the third day, he woke up to it’s wooing the following morning and began forming the fish and the birds, resigning, “Back to the ol’ grind.”  It must have been a rough day, the fourth.  Fish, for all of their intricacies, look mostly like fish; and birds resemble other birds with slight variations.  I have this vivid onomatopoeia relationship with God, where I make him speak, Read the rest of this entry »

Pitfalls of Vision and Nostalgia

Everybody has goals.  They vary in size and scope, but we all have them.  Goals are inescapable.  From the illustrious quest for middle management or some authoritative leadership to small business success to out-drinking your buddy on a Friday night: a goal is a goal.  To achieve a goal requires vision; Read the rest of this entry »

I have a friend who wakes up most mornings angry and disappointed.  Because life is not in order.  Because she is not who she expected she would be, at least not at this stage of her life.  Because yesterday her to-do-list was twelve items long and three of those items are still unchecked.  Because her efforts toward achieving her desires, simple desires, are all undone.  Not every morning, some days she wakes up in serenity.  You’d think that these days would be celebrated, and sometimes they are, but often they serve as reminders of the other days, the undone days.  Did I mention that she is a “list person?”  Read the rest of this entry »

I once suggested to a group of Christian leaders that we should embrace contentment as a value.  You’d have thought that I proposed streaming Saw II behind their Sunday morning worship lyrics.  The reigning idea within Christendom is simple: “Contentment breeds complacency.”  If people feel quieted and peaceful, there’s a good chance they won’t change.  Maybe there is more than one accepted definition of content.  Maybe that’s the problem…

Contentment is such a huge biblical idea, you find it everywhere throughout scripture.  It starts showing up early Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t forgotten about you.  I haven’t stopped writing.  I’ve been working over-nights and taking care of my children, so my writing time has been devoted to a personal thing that I am working on.  Sorry.  But here we go…

I’ve roughed out several posts for one ongoing thought.  I think that you’ll like it.  Or maybe you’ll really hate it.  I pray that you’ll have some strong reaction.  Beginning this Friday I will resume my Tuesday/Friday blogging regimen.  <Everyone cheers!>

Below is a sampling of my forthcoming thoughts, though I have withheld the word that ties them all together.  Consider it a teaser; my gift to you.  We’ll see you on Friday…

No one ever talks about it because it’s just not popular; and it gives the impression of a kind of resignation, unacceptable to the people grasping for control, those who are earning their way in and proving their value.  Should you embrace it like wine before bedtime; you best keep it to yourself.  Because if you find it, if it finds you; many will not understand.  It’s hard to fit in when you’ve learned to stop seizing upon the opinions of others.  You still care, but with a palm instead of a fist. … wait there is more. click to continue reading

Language and Epistemology of Grace

There is this woman in the Bible, if I were talking about her behind her back I might be inclined to call her “that filthy whore!”  This woman was caught in the act!  “We have laws for this kind of behavior,” cried the behaviorists.  So the behaviorists, doing what moral theorists should do, appealed to Jesus.  To whom else would you turn?  Certainly Jesus, filled with the Spirit and moral clarity with settle this one.  The moral lawyers cited Moses vs. the People of Israel Read the rest of this entry »

Responding to Newsweek’s Eulogy

Earlier in the week RoP addressed why cultural American Christianity is fading, citing a recent Newsweek article that reported a substantial 10% decline in adherents.  After opining as to a few of the possible “why’s,” the next set of questions that are begging to be answered sound a bit like, “If this is true; now what?”

What does a believer or group of believers do when the larger culture has filled them with embalming fluids?  It is difficult to gain an audience to listen to one speak about the falling sky when the orator has been placed in a closed coffin.  please continue reading