i know i say this all the time, but this past week goes down in recent history as one of the wackiest in a while. living in real community is not, capital IS NOT a picnic. it’s a beautiful gift, and i wouldn’t trade it for anything, but sometimes life in the low places is […]
Read Morewell here we are, the monday after easter sunday. it’s my favorite season of the year & every time i re-read the story and engage with the unexpected events from palm sunday to resurrection day i am reminded yet again how Jesus turns things upside down and inside out. i wrote this post last week, […]
Read More“a new command i give you: love one another. as I have loved you, so you must love one another. by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” – john 13:34-35 * * * * * today is maundy thursday. i’ve heard the word for years […]
Read Moreevery so often i start to feel a little bad about some of the things that i write because i know it can be mis-perceived as a continual negativity toward typical church systems. i doubt myself and think “maybe it’s not as bad as i think? maybe i’m exaggerating?” but then i end up in […]
Read Morewhen i knew that i was going to be speaking/teaching/facilitating/whatever you want to call it in africa (yeah, i am not too into the word “preach”) i spent some time reflecting on what to share, which passage, which direction to go. i was nervous because as you all know, i’m a little on the not-so-conservative […]
Read Morehappy new year a few days late! this weekend marked the beginning of the church calendar, the start of advent (since we do a saturday evening gathering, we are always a day early). i love the spirit of advent–a season of waiting, hoping, expecting, noticing–in preparation for Christ’s birth. this year i do feel extra-excited […]
Read More“Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” […]
Read Moremany of you know that when i describe the refuge i use words like “messy, chaotic, honest, uncomfortable, unpredictable.” it is so funny to me, looking back on the past 3 ½ years how the world that i came from was completely different. on mega-church staff we used words like “focused, distraction-free, inspiring, dark-so-you-don’t-have-to-see-the-person-next-to-you, comfortable.” […]
Read Morei have really appreciated the comments and emails from last week’s post. it seemed like the quote that touched the most was “are you a Jesus fan or a Jesus follower?” with palm sunday a few days away, it definitely seems to be an appropriate question. how quickly things turned from people chanting “hosanna, blessed […]
Read More“Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. yours are the eyes through which he is to look out, Christ’s compassion to the world. yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. yours the hands with which he is to bless now.” […]
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