I’ve been hired! On September first I will begin working part-time for Servant Partners, a mission agency with a truly astounding commitment to holistic church-planting among the urban poor. I am thrilled to call the folks of this organization my new ministry family, and I am grateful to God for the provision of this job.… Continue reading On a personal note…
Category: Church
Meet Sam, the Bee-Hag
I’m not a fan of business/organizational lingo. My tolerance is so low that when I worked at North Park I went crazy with all the talk about everything “on our plates”! Anyway, call it a minor pet peeve… A few weeks ago Redeemer Community Partnership (our Community Development Corporation) presented our church with a BHAG:… Continue reading Meet Sam, the Bee-Hag
Deus Absconditus
While studying for a course final at Fuller Seminary, I stumbled across a great devotional nugget in a surprising place: my lecture notes from a class in Medieval and Reformation Theology! Our professor was discussing how Martin Luther saw the hiddenness of God within revelation, as well as outside of it. Luther argued that, quite… Continue reading Deus Absconditus
Alabanza!
I just returned home from preaching at our Saturday service. This was an especially significant event for me: it was the first time I had ever preached in Spanish. I have always shrugged off my pastor’s hints that I should preach at this service. I preach regularly for our Sunday morning service, but with small… Continue reading Alabanza!
Rejected
So I am frustrated. I attended my denominational school, for both my undergrad and the beginning of my seminary education. During my years there I received a distinct calling to bear the good news to what many would consider to be unbearable places, and I have followed that call from Chicago to Spokane to Portland… Continue reading Rejected
Who is the enemy?
This past year my brother-in law began organizing neighbors on my block to form a block club in response to the increasing violence we were experiencing on our streets. We have met the first Friday of every month at the home of some good friends. Neighbors have come, many fearfully, to meet with our Senior… Continue reading Who is the enemy?
For my Oprah tells me so…
Okay, so I have been known to quote Oprah Winfrey on occasion. Just last week I actually caught myself saying to my fitness-conscious brother: “well, Oprah told me I should give up white foods and eating after 7pm.” While it is rare that I watch her show (when are the two kids EVER both asleep… Continue reading For my Oprah tells me so…
Missional?
I regularly read Scot McKnight’s blog, and this past week he profiled some discussion about the closure of Axis, an age-specific worship gathering within Willow Creek, the famous first megachurch in Chicagoland. This ministry began while I was a student in Chicago, and I remember friends talking a great deal about it. I also new… Continue reading Missional?
Visual aids
Our church meets in an elementary school, and there is little about our worship space that is visually appealing. It’s not that our space is unattractive, it’s just that it’s a school cafeteria. Many of us have a desire to incorporate visuals and art into our worship gatherings, and our sister church in Pasadena has… Continue reading Visual aids
At the feet…
I am one of those people who has always seen the early church as pictured in the Acts of the Apostles as romantic, winsome, irresistible. This idea that people would literally bring their possessions to the feet of an elder so that the needs of a fellow worshipper could be met runs so counter to… Continue reading At the feet…