In this short clip, Alan Hirsch discusses the difference between the church as communitas, not community. A communitas is a church steeped and driven by mission, not ministry. As a result, it isn’t afraid to take risks as it moves towards the future with an honest sense of adventure and creativity; qualities that often don’t […]

Hey Everyone! Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to those of you who took the time to stop by the blog, read an article or two, make a comment and pass it along! October has been the best month to date relative to the number of overall views! Reactions have been, for the […]

Have you ever been wronged? I’m confident that most, if not all, of you would say yes. For those who have, Jesus provides us with a quick and decisive response. “Love your enemies” In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (5:43), he chose to frame this portion of teaching by using tradition as […]

I’ve been reflecting lately on the need for faith in Christ to be the central and controlling theme in our lives. So very often, for most all of us, faith is pushed to the margins of our daily experience. We often live in such a way that makes faith part of the periphery, rather than […]

What is the goal of the gospel? Fame? Prestige? Large churches? Converts? Heaven? Happy marriages? Large homes? Cottages? Actually, none of the above. In this short video, Skye Jethani explains what the actual goal of the gospel is. You may be surprised with his answer. Maybe not.

I’ve started to write this piece on at least half a dozen occasions and couldn’t quite figure out just where to start at trying to answer the question of what makes Christian social work Christian in 1000 words or less. First, I went with Jeremiah 29:7 around seeking the shalom of the city that I’ve […]

In my first post I focused open theism’s defining claim: the future is both “partly closed” and “partly open” and God’s knowledge of it is accordingly closed or open. And I suggested that to say God knows what is closed about the future is to say God knows what “will” or “will not” occur while […]

I just finished reading Matthew’s account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, specifically the last three chapters. One thing that stood out during this particular reading was the variety and content of the insults directed towards Jesus when he hung on the cross in 27:37-44.  “Those who passed by hurled insults at him” (v. 39), […]

The nature of love and human free will debate is one that I’ve given much thought to over the years. For me, there is a logical inconsistency between holding to God’s meticulous sovereignty (absolute control) on the one hand and reciprocal love on the other. How is it possible to say that love is a […]