Category: Uncategorized
Why Community Makes A Ton of Sense
I preached a few Sundays ago at Faith on the importance of practicing community. Just like all the other spiritual practices, practicing community, is difficult. Given the messiness (and glory!) of doing life together as broken people, the fears we carry with us, and our hurried lives there must be a more compelling motive other ...
Looking For Something More? A Resource for the New Year!
“We’re aware of Jesus, but we are obsessed with Christianity. We’re stuck on its requirements and we’re defined by its doctrines, caught in an endless struggle to find out where we fit, if we’ve “arrived” yet, and if we’re doing it right. We struggle with sin, and yet, because of the boundaries, we’re forced to ...
The Danger of our Distraction
“The great danger facing all of us-- let me say it again, for one feels it tremendously—is not that we shall make an absolute failure of life, nor that we shall fall into outright viciousness, nor that we shall be terribly unhappy, nor that we shall feel that life has no meaning at all-- not ...
The Obedient Life – Not What You Think
“Obedience is the key!” shouted he radio preacher. Ugh, well, Jesus is the key but that got me thinking a lot about obedience. Obedience, for sure, plays a big part. Perhaps, however, not as we think. I know that just the mention of that word illicits a mixed bag of emotions, because it comes cloaked ...
Dancing with the Trinity
Gal. 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” “Keeping in step” indicates someone else is leading. It also means putting aside our agenda, our expectations, our control and relinquish ourselves to someone else’s lead. That means we are the followers, not the ones calling the shots. ...
Living into a Greater Story
“I cannot answer the question, what do I love? Without answering the question, what story do I believe?” James K. A. Smith, in Imagining the Kingdom We are in a sermon series right now at Faith called “Story.” I love this because it’s more than a sermon series. If we can get our arms around ...
A Tool for Formation at Faith
Embrace. Discover. Wonder. Desire. Intentional. Encounter. Experience. Awaken. Train. These are some words that describe the dynamic process of spiritual growth. In continuing our spiritual formation ministry strategy at Faith, we recognized the need for a comprehensive “pathway” for groups and individuals to follow in keeping with our 5 Environemnts for Transformtion. We envisioned a ...
On Death and Dying
“When we sit with a dying person, we gain two critical insights into what it means to “be alone together.” First, we realize that we must abandon the arrogance that often distorts our relationship—the arrogance of believing that we have the answer to the other person’s problem. When we sit with a dying person, we ...
A Spiritual Audit
A new year has come and for most of us it’s a new beginning. Who doesn’t love the opportunity to begin again? There is the feeling of a fresh start and new resolve that things will be different than last year. This is typically when we start the diet we’ve put off for so long ...
On Worship
“If the Christian life has become the path of ease and fun in the modern West, then corporate worship is the place of increasing entertainment. The problem is not a battle between contemporary worship music and hymns; the problem is that there aren't enough martyrs during the week. If no soldiers are perishing, what you ...
Gail Johnsen 