When I was in Thailand, I saw idols. They were outside bakeries and 7-11s. They would be sitting on shelves behind the cash register at restaurants. Cab drivers glued them to their dashboards and placed pieces of their lunch in front of them. I even saw them outside of brothels when a group of us did a prayer walk through the Red Light district in Bangkok. I watched as women offered food to these small statues surrounded by incense before…
From Willimon’s book, Pastor, in a section where he describes the church as a world or culture in which it’s members learn how to live — a place that has rituals, practices and ways of being that teach us who we are and how to be in the world: So, when an early twenty-first-century North American says, “What the church says may be OK for some people, but I think it is important to think for myself,” that person thinks…
Gary Anderson says sin has a history. He’s not talking about the history of our personal sin — why we did it or what it’s enduring effects were. He’s talking about the history of the way we talk about sin. He says this is evident by the change of metaphors that are used to describe/define sin in the Old Testament. He explains why this is significant by employing the philosophical thought of Riccouer, who argues that the meaning of words…
“I would rather do the dishes, clean the house or any other chore than give our kids a bath.” That was me just a few months ago explaining why I wanted Mary to bathe our kids. I wasn’t lamenting bath time because I disliked the actual bathing of our kids. It wasn’t the crying and complaining that inevitably comes when I say, “it’s time to wash your hair.” I wasn’t avoiding it because I didn’t like washing, drying, lotion-ing up,…
One of the most exciting terms used to describe the church today is the word missional. It correctly categorizes the people of God as a community on a mission — a people sent out by Jesus to extend and promote his ministry and message in the world. But unfortunately, what it has devolved into is frequently little more than do-gooder volunteerism. I believe the word missional ought to properly characterized the church (and I hope it does ours), but I…
Abraham Lincoln is a legend. He is known for being a wise, steadfast, and visionary leader who moved the United States through the Civil War and out of slavery. But that is certainly not how he was known during his lifetime. He was perceived by many as waffling, inexperienced, and a failure. Lincoln faced repeated setbacks and discouragement. He was dirt poor growing up and at times he had to forego even the most basic comforts. He struggled to succeed…
Alyosha Karamazov, the protagonist in Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, disappoints me as I’m sure Jesus would have if only I understood him as a first century Jew would have. Alyosha is described from the outset as the hero of the story, and as I progressed through the novel, the author repeatedly promised tales of Alyosha’s forthcoming heroics. I eagerly anticipated learning of what Alyosha would do that would qualify him as the hero of the story. I thought, maybe he’ll…
Have you ever been annoyed when a spiritual guru has told you to do some self-exploration? I think that’s fair. There’s enough self-absorption in our country that when another Christian pastor or spiritual leader tells people to “look inward” or to “know thyself” that it sounds like New Age Narcissism. Often times, Christians object to this sort of counsel with quotes from Jesus about dying to self, Paul’s exhortation to sacrificial service and the like. But in a book on…
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” ~ Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina This, the opening line to Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina, is packed full of meaning, and the rest of the book expounds in story form what he means. We read of one miserable family owing its pain to the self-absorption of the husband. In another, it’s because of the internal angst of a middle-aged wife that drives her into the arms…
Mark Batterson loves Jesus. I’ve now read two of his books, Wild Goose Chase and Primal, and the portrait I get of him is a high energy (possibly over-caffeinated, he started a coffee shop) Jesus junky. He comes across as an adventurer in pursuit of new ways to articulate God’s love. And the good news is, it’s pretty contagious. I found myself constantly thinking up new ideas of how to share my faith, serve other people, or structure our church…