Secrets sabotage relationships like poison destroys the body. When we keep secrets, we do damage to the relationships with the people we keep these secrets from. Whatever we are hiding becomes less damaging than the fact that we are hiding something at all. The secret ruins the relationship not the thing that is kept secret. I think that’s why Paul said, “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the…
I just saw an incredible story on CNN about a man who married a made up, virtual girlfriend! In the video, we learn about a young Japanese man, Sal, who actually went through with a marriage ceremony with his virtual girlfriend on his Nintendo DS. He admits that the wedding was done tongue-in-cheek, but from what I can tell only sort of. He still takes baths with her, takes her on vacation (to Guam), and plays with her while he…
Has anyone ever said that to you? Has anyone ever seen the way you behaved and said, “Shame on you?” This phrase implies there is something wrong with you just because you made a mistake or did something wrong. By saying shame on you, the message you hear is you are a worse person because of your actions and you should be ashamed of yourself. Sometimes people use the phrase without consciously thinking about the degrading nature of their comments….
A new movie documentary, The Anatomy of Hate, is coming out that explores the origins and reasons for hate. The film documents hate in the lives of people from white supremacists in the south, Christians who define themselves as anti-gay, to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It looks fascinating. As a pastor who believes deeply in community, hatred and conflict are the primary hindrances to accomplishing this vision. People will walk out on the church because of a judgmental comment made by…
I wish I would have discovered Jurgen Moltmann sooner. What a fantastic theologian he is. He writes with depth of insight, historical perspective, and a commitment to scriptural consistency. He embraces the passion of God in a way that is sadly absent from many theological works on God, and writes in such a way that my personal passion for God is increased. Moltmann paints the portrait of a God who is eminently worshipful. In this book in particular, he explores…
Josiah is my three-year-old who is in preschool. Today the teacher asked the kids in the class what they want to be when they grow up. Some of the vocations that the kids wanted to be were: Veterinarian Train conductor Chef Fireman Mailman Princess These are all very exciting professions, especially in the eyes of three and four-year olds. But my son had the best vocation of them all. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up,…
There’s nothing like a close friend. When we were in seminary at Gordon-Conwell and after Mary and I were just married, we were friends with three other couples who were all living in the same on-campus residence. We shared values, interests, life-stage, cultural backgrounds, missions in life, and location! We also had unorthodox schedules because of our studying, which allowed us to drop by during the day or stay up late hanging out and talking about the ups and downs…
Philosophy’s and theology’s recent return to emphasizing our human identity in relational categories makes a lot of sense. Here’s an article that seems to support this way of thinking about humanity from the earliest days of our development: http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9757396-7.html?tag=nefd.only We can’t become better humans by ingesting more information. Development happens through human contact and interaction. Neat.