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Nov 24, 2011

Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that so far has not been corrupted by excessive materialism. Often, the traditions are simply focused around a meal. Some may have a tradition of going around a table and voicing gratitude for various things in our lives. By Thanksgiving, many of us are already becoming preoccupied with the upcoming stress of Christmas. Because of that, often times the opportunity of Thanksgiving can often be missed. The fact that we as Americans actually have a major holiday set aside to practicing some gratitude is an amazing thing to think about. At no pointRead More...

May 04, 2011

Theology is a means to an end. That end is an ever increasing clarity and grasping of God himself.  When the end is anything but this, we will become restless, anxious, combative, angry, proud, and/or generally dissatisfied.

Apr 22, 2011

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. … Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. … And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, Read More...

Mar 18, 2011

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17 ESV)  There was a time in my life when monthly (or even less frequent) communion was a time of great personal shame and guilt. I was often reminded beforehand of the gravity of the Lord's Supper, and how people who took it "unworthily" could get sick or die, or just generally bring God's wrath onRead More...

Oct 15, 2010

Ed Welch offers some great advice on the role of concise words.   An effective communicator can take a complex subject, such as a person, and simplify that subject in such a way that there is no loss of meaning. Preachers are exhorted to be able to summarize their sermons in a sentence, and not a run-on sentence. Writers submit their manuscripts to publishers with a synopsis of their book in a sentence. If they can’t do it, they won’t be published.

Oct 04, 2010

  "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." This often used quote by John Piper is one that I have heard many times but didn’t truly understand its profoundness until recently. Our Satisfaction is God’s Glory What I have learned by reading Pipers “Desiring God” and comparing his insights to Scripture is that God isn’t about us dutifully doing things to earn His favor but rather us totally desiring to worship and serve Him. Piper describes this as “Christian Hedonism” – I describe itRead More...

Sep 28, 2010

In my last post, I discussed the benefits of healthy dialogue to the learning process. This post goes over a few tips on fostering this kind of dialogue in your own community groups. This list is by no means exhaustive, so feel free to add to it in the comments below. 1 - Break the Ice In the early stages of relationship building, group discussions can be awkward and silent. If the participants do not know each other very well, they are full of insecurities and reservations keeping them from engaging in conversation as freely. Spending time interacting in a less Read More...

Sep 21, 2010

At Sacred Journey Church, we put a high value on our gatherings that take place weekly in homes across Rhode Island. In these groups, friends and family typically meet for dinner, and discuss the previous sermon. These discussions are intended to take the learning to the next level, out of the abstract and into the practical.   Why Dialogue? A healthy learning process involves both monologue and dialogue. Jesus modeled this by sometimes preaching monologues to thousands on hillsides, while other times engaging smaller audiences with parables and interactive stories. These discussions invited the hearers to wrestle with theRead More...

Sep 08, 2010

One conversation I find myself in lately has to do with the relationship of our behavior to our status as a “Christian”. This subject is tricky to address because the correct view lies within tension, so bear with me as I try. “Nominal” Christianity I found myself first getting into these conversations when I moved out of what I will refer to as “nominal Christianity”. I spent several years in a weird place where I intellectually believed in Christianity as the valid worldview—to the extent of God being the world’sRead More...

Aug 24, 2010

One puzzle that I find intriguing is the idea of good and evil within humanity. For many of us, we tend to spend most of our lives focusing more on the good within ourselves and our camps, and the evil of certain other camps. Questions such as "how could anyone do that" are a common response to atrocities seen and heard around the world. A Real And Unrelenting Death When faced with images of the child soldiers of Uganda, the world sex trade, genocide, rape, torture and exploitation, we are forced to come to terms with a real and presentRead More...

Aug 19, 2010

In the Gospel Centered Life, we learn the following common areas that turn to for our righteousness (things that make us feel acceptable to God). The Gospel calls us to look to Jesus alone and his perfect life that he lived for our righteousness.  JOB RIGHTEOUSNESS: I’m a hard worker, so God will reward me. FAMILY RIGHTEOUSNESS: Because I “do things right” as a parent, I’m more godly than parents who can’t control their kids. THEOLOGICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS: I have good theology. God prefers me over those who have badRead More...

Jun 01, 2010

I've recently been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, and can't recommend it enough. It is a convicting and enlightening look at Christian community and what it looks like. Early on in the first chapter, Bonhoeffer surprised me with an interesting section called "Not and Ideal but a Divine Reality". In this subsection, he begins to expose a critical misunderstanding of what the Church is supposed to be. This post is generally my reflections on the stated section. If you really want to read something worthwhile, grab the book.  In many of the churches that I have been a partRead More...

May 08, 2010

  Theology (the study of God) is incredibly important. In fact, it is part of our human nature to need it. In the creation narrative, as we see the various spheres that God created, the only portion of creation where God interjects in a personal way is when he creates mankind. He speaks to them, begins a relationship with them, reveals information about who he is, who they are, and what their purpose is in relation to him. No other part of creation has this privilege, or need. Paul Tripp defines the attempt to live without theology as "sub-human". JesusRead More...

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