May 15
I completely disconnected from compline this past Sunday night. We’d just had dinner. I was stuffed. I was sleepy (and I dozed off for part of the service). My soul was already filled with concern about my schedule for the upcoming week. All of the weighty stuff that’s right below the surface of my soul …
May 14
Many years ago I got an email and then a phone call from Laurin Makohon, the editor for YouthWalk, inviting me to write a short article for their youth devotional magazine. I’d seen and heard of YouthWalk before that connection, but I had never read it too closely. Long story short, I wrote that initial …
May 09
I’m struggling with the contrast between God’s engaging, pervasive, gorgeous love, and many Christian’s pathological misrepresentation of that love. Yesterday, North Carolina voted to support an amendment that bans same-sex marriage and civil unions. This morning, NPR reported that one of the key figures leading the support of the amendment held a public celebration with a seven-tier …
May 01
You know…I could write a few catchy sentences in an attempt to encourage you to click this link, and preview the May/June issue of Immerse. Instead, I’m just going to tell you why I love Immerse so much. – Every issue has a soul. I’m convinced that the boldness and clarity with which our authors …
Apr 16
One of the hindrances to my spiritual formation is listening to sermons. There’s been some significant conflict in me regarding this. I feel like I’m supposed to feast during the message time at church. However, it doesn’t matter what church, who’s speaking or even the topic. If it’s a sermon, I nearly always check out. I fire up …
Apr 09
Last night at compline, this one thought kept coming to the surface. My life has to change in about twenty days. In about twenty days, my responsabilities (and paycheck) with the university end. There’s been some talk about teaching again in the fall, but nothing for sure, and only a couple of classes. It’s not …
Apr 05
For the first time in a very long time, I’m looking forward to Easter. Specifically, I’m looking forward to participating in the Stations of the Cross on Friday and in the Sunday Evening compline service. I’ve been looking forward to compline since I left the last service a month ago. Maybe it’s more correct to …
Apr 04
I had to ditch the Bonhoeffer bio for a while. It’s interesting, but not enough to keep me connected to the story. I’m halfway through, and Metaxes hasn’t gotten beyond his theology. It’s dragging a bit too much for me. I feel a bit goofy for not connecting to the book, especially with the rave reviews the …
Apr 01
That’s how I felt Sunday morning. I was hovering over my bible, reading through Luke 19:12-26 getting ready to substitute for a buddy who’s away with a few students for a retreat. I wanted to be familiar with the passage enough to guide the discussion. I had the idea of doing an imagination exercise over …
Mar 29
We need more near-life experiences in youth ministry. We need more people who aren’t scared to dream, and who are willing to risk their positions in their churches for the sake of creating a new generation of imaginitive theologians. So much of the politics youth workers deal with every day kills that creativity and abates …
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