Buying & Selling Black Market Sermons
Scot McKnight over at Jesus Creed posted something on “Sermons and Plagiarism” today. I wrote about this a year ago and have been thinking recently about the enormous pressure pastors/teachers are under to present compelling, well crafted messages 52 weeks a year, especially now that I am preaching fairly regularly now in my own internship. [...]
The Inclusivism of The Emerging Church
Friday afternoon I had a lovely lunch of Cashews and Chicken at a local Chinese Restaurant with my Systematic Theology professor, Dr. Wittmer. He is as funny as he is scholarly (brownie points?) and I thoroughly enjoyed my second lunch with this new professor friend. (BTW, he’s written an excellent book called Heaven Is A [...]
9 Marks of a Healthy Church…Sans Missional Service
UPDATE: I’ve gotten some great comments on a post I wrote in response to a revelation I received (from Jeremy, not Jesus!) during my Church Planting 1 class last week. I commented waaaay below to clarify my post a bit, so I thought I would (in the lingo of my form life on Capitol Hill) [...]
“The Stories of Gay Christians” and The Implications for the Church
The last place on God’s green earth I thought I would find a constructive dialogue piece on homosexuality and the Church was Grand Rapids, Michigan. Washington, D.C. certainly, but absolutely NOT theeee bastion of all things conservative and Christian! But that’s exactly what I found in the play “Seven Passages: The Stories of Gay Christians.” This production [...]
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Rob Bell’s “Poets, Prophets and Preachers” and novus•lumen
July 5-7 Rob Bell is having a little shindig with his good friends, Shane Hipps and Pete Rollins, in Grand Rapids. He calls it “Poets, Prophets and Preachers.” According to the website its: “A seminar for teachers, preachers, speakers, leaders and pastors serious about reclaiming the art of the sermon.” Thanks... [Read more]
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ZOOMAE: A Hyperlocal Networking Experiment
A few weeks ago I wrote about the launch of ZOOMAE, a hyperlocal social-spiritual experiment that exists to empower dreamers to stimulate renewal in Grand Rapids through publishing, networking, and missional projects. The first project I wrote about was our hyperlocal publishing project. This week my friend and partner... [Read more]
LIVE BLOGGING: “Religion and Homophobia: Spiritual Violence in our Community” Grand Rapids Event
This a running account and commentary of the Grand Valley State University’s LGBT Center event “Religion and Homophobia: Spiritual Violence in our Community” that I promised to live blog. It started at 7pm, so later entries are at the bottom with the most recent action at the top. Panel members include: -... [Read more]
“Religion and Homophobia: Spiritual Violence in our Community” A Grand Rapids Area Event
Now there’s a catchy title! Tonight I am attending an event with some friends hosted by a local university in reaction to the impending Love Won Out conference that will arrive in Grand Rapids on Saturday. LWO is an event put on by Focus on the Family that “exhorts and equips the church to respond in a Christ-like... [Read more]
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How Should We Respond to Adbusters #84: Nihilism & Revolition
I received this email from one of my favorite Indy magazines, Adbusters. Check it out: Nihilism has long been an abstraction: the dark muse of poetry, philosophy and art. But now we are confronted with the moment when this experiment of ours on Planet Earth meets its spectacular and terrifying end, when civilization reaches... [Read more]
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The Complete Irrelevance of American Evangelicalism-Exhibit 2: Thomas Nelson’s “The American Patriot’s Bible”
Who the hell thought it was a good idea to meld the Biblical Text with a commentary on American History?! Thomas Nelson, that’s who. Gregory Boyd in a two part review (part 1 and part 2) explores the utter ridiculousness of the patriotic agenda driven, consumeristic nonsense known as The American Patriot’s... [Read more]
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ZOOMAE: A Hyperlocal Publishing Experiment
Last week I wrote about the launch of ZOOMAE, a hyper-local experiment that exists to empower dreamers to stimulate spiritual renewal in Grand Rapids through publishing, networking, and missional projects. One of the biggest pieces will be the publishing piece. The mission of ZOOMAE will initially happen through a publishing... [Read more]
“I love you God. Can you help me make better choices?”
This note was written by a child and dropped in my church’s offering plate. A child’s innocent, honest question silences the the prideful arrogance of adults. May this be our prayer today. Popularity: 8% [?] Read More →
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Shift Happens: Wisdom from Joseph’s Story on Life’s Unexpected Shifts 2
Shift Happens: Introduction Cistern A few weeks ago I began a series on the life of Joseph as representative of our own unexpected shifts. We pick up the story with Joseph at the bottom of a cistern. I can only imagine what Joseph was thinking: What has just happened? HOW did this happen? WHY is this happening to me? What... [Read more]
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