There’s a time in 1 Cor. 5, where Paul asks the question What business is it of mine to judge those on the outside? If Paul was here today, I bet plenty of people would have an answer for that question. I’ve grown up in the era of culture wars and battles for values, I’ve seen people who believe in God scream some of the most vile, hate-filled things at people who don’t. I’ve also grown up in a time where less people are in any church, and more disturbingly where it seems like less Jesus is in His people
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We must never forget that the breath of God is what sustains our speech and one day each of us will breath our last. We build our lives with bricks, one word at a time. And when we are gone, the better words we use, the more life-giving, God-honoring, Jesus-like words, those words just might leave something that will last forever.
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I never dreamed that TMZ would ever ask me to do an interview for anything…ever. . I still have no idea how the celebrity gossip hub heard about me doing this, or why they thought it might matter. In fact, I wasn’t going to do it, but a very good ministry friend reminded me that if you offend some religious people, but help some non-religions people get a better glimpse of God, you might be on the right track.
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On July 27th I made the call to Central Casting and found out that they were shooting for the new Annie movie with Christian Bale. I called in, and after a few tries got through and was accepted to play a working class restaurant patron. Only to find out that this wasn’t Annie. This is the story of a Preacher who went to Hollywood to be an Extra.
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The bent of religion is us vs. them we circle the wagons and keep those who disagree with you out. And that’s actually an option if you live in a society where you are in control. However, we don’t live in that society any more. To use Biblical language, we are in Exile…and that is probably a really good thing.
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Rob Bell’s new book has caused quite the controversy. And while most people might say that Hell is at the center of the debate. I’d like to offer a suggestion that it’s something else entirely. The question of certainty.
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So I’m a big fan of the band Gungor. They’re lyrics are prophetic and their music is so creative it gets in your bones. I had heard this song a while back, and it has grown on me. Now I know that this is edgy, and I’ve seen the reviews and heard the pushback from it’s message. I know the call of holiness that God has on His people’s lives. I’ve heard (and preached) those sermons. And I get that. But…
It might be a good idea to think about why the video exists in the first place. In their book, UNChristian, Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman make the point that Christians are seen by outsiders primarily as political and judgmental (specifically to people with same-sex attraction). And if you were to just reverse-engineer this song, you’d probably find relationships that the creeators had with people who had been burned by these very things.
Again, I get that my generation is reacting against extremes that the news showed them often, and that we should be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.But there is a reason the song ends with the refrain, “So please just stop the hating.” But a deeper truth here, one that I think, Gungor is tapping into, is that God is bigger than our labels or agendas. He transcends our politics and skin color. And that at the core this God is love. Continue Reading…
When I first heard about Pastor Terry Jones, like most people, I was incredulous about the new National Nut case. I guess I get why he did it. There is not a quicker way to get people to both hate and pay attention to you as to threaten to burn something religious. And this guy has got some obviously pretty strong opinions about the Mosque on Ground Zero. And he was going to do something about it. Continue Reading…
So for the past few months, I’ve been working with a team of people at RHCC to help us figure out our Social Media strategy. That’s what we made this video for, and why we started using Twitter and Facebook. And before Leslie and I leave for A-town in August, we hope to have a working system in place for communicating and using Social Media for Gospel means.
But we know that any media has it’s pro’s and con’s.
Did you know that 1 in every 5 divorces that occur in America today list Facebook as a reason for the separation? Continue Reading…
So last night I finished up preaching through the book of Acts after 2 years of living in it. On some levels I’m grateful to take a break from Acts. It’s hard to have an office job when you are reading about your predecessors always moving and risking everything. But on a lot of levels I’m going to miss it. I have grown a lot in Acts for the past few years. It’s made me want to write a book about the subject, but more importantly, it’s made me want to be more like those earlier Christians.
And here’s a great example of why. Continue Reading…
