He was a towering man adorned with stylish wardrobe and a wide smile. He laughed easily as he carried himself with a light-hearted playfulness. This pastor was a student in the 8 week philosophy class I taught for non-traditional students, mostly pastors looking to sharpen their ministry. I remember he had a lot of important … Continue reading
In thinking about the new year, I am reminded of a poem I read recently. In it Frances Ridley Havergal offers what should be our wishes for each other for the coming year. With all of the possible resolutions that could be made to adjust my life to something greater that I desire, may … Continue reading
When I started this series on community, I talked about how America is characterized by individualism and how that can be a significant cost to community. Every human being’s greatest need is community (network of close relationships): with God and with others. In the contemporary obsession with convenience and immediate gratification, community and relationships counter-culturally … Continue reading
Community doesn’t “just happen.” It takes time, intentionality, vulnerability and mutual commitment to develop. Yet, there are sure fire ways to kill community and key values that can create or grow community and in this post I want to take a look at both. Let’s start by looking at some ways you can kill community. … Continue reading
Metaphors are pictures that help us to take a closer look at realities embedded in a concept through a tangible analogy. I want to describe 7 metaphors (or pictures) of community given to us in Scripture. This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it will paint a broad and ideal picture of the … Continue reading
Community would be much easier if people weren’t involved. I meant what I said in my last post that God values community and that the community we experience in the church should mirror the oneness of the Trinity. I would even go so far as to say that the community we experience with God and … Continue reading
Americans value individualism. We love our freedom of self-expression, independence and fiercely defend our individual rights. Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede developed what is known as the “cultural dimensions theory” which seeks to express the values of particular cultures. On a scale from 1-120, America scored the highest in individualism with a 91. So, what is … Continue reading
Life would be much easier if people were all good or all evil, wouldn’t it? We could place people comfortably in one category or the other and respond to them accordingly. In the wake of the controversy surrounding Lance Armstrong, I am reminded of just how messy people (all people; you and me included) truly … Continue reading
Writhing on the ground from a fall, I happened upon a middle-aged man and woman who had fallen into the street during rush hour. Cars zoomed pass narrowly avoiding making the couple tragic road kill. I stopped just shy of them, turned on my emergency flashers and asked what had happen and if they needed … Continue reading
For over a decade, I have been wrong about love. My journey began in college. No longer satisfied (and even disgusted) by the “feelings-based” definitions of love, I sought, read and processed with many friends trying to define the word love. Nothing has more characterized my preaching, teaching and ministry than what I believed to … Continue reading
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