How smart do we need to be in order to understand the Bible? I ask this question because I am beginning to see a pattern of Biblical interpretation that is nothing new, but is being applied all of a sudden in many cultural contexts. From the egalitarian debate to the gay Christian debate, many are…
Last week I attended a conference called Together for the Gospel (T4G) in Louisville, Kentucky. This has become a biennial elders’ retreat of sorts and has become a great encouragement to my soul. I am so grateful for volunteer lay elders who take their role in the church seriously enough to take time off work…
Why not write about what I think about the Noah movie, right!? I mean everybody else has already said it all, so by coming late to the party I get to read what everybody else has said and then just glean (academic for “gank”) what others have said. But honestly, I want to say less…
In the midst of a pretty large transition, it is possible to develop some confusion. ReCAST Church recently changed venues and also went back to one service from two services. I have received some feedback from several people that they have been experiencing some relational whiplash that I want to address here in my blog.…
This whole Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 thing has really caught a lot of people’s attention. Humans love a mystery, and they also like to speculate. Everybody fashions themselves as a bit of Crime Scene Investigator and the conversations at the coffee shop have been interesting to say the least. (Apparently we cannot rule out alien…
I am preparing to teach our youth group on Sunday night on the topic of Hinduism. I have a Masters Degree in Islam and a minor in comparative religions integrated with my Bachelors of Religious Education. I am not trying to set up my credentials, but to make sure anybody reading this knows that I…
Despite what many assume, I did not name Leah after a princess from a well known science fiction movie that came out in 1978, even though her brother’s name is Luke. She is named straight up for the Biblical character introduced in Genesis 29. And I feel like I need to clarify that we didn’t…
Last night something amazing happened. But to capture how amazing it was, I need to take you back about 5 years to a basement in a housing development in Mattawan, Michigan. It was the Sunday morning after Easter in 2009. 14 adults and 17 kids gathered together. It took about 3 minutes to set up…