If you’ve been following this sporadically updated blog, you know that I am a part of an effort to plant a community of missionaries in Alton, IL. I have written about the conviction that developed in me last summer that…
If there’s one thing that’s really frustrating about parenting, it’s how painful giving birth can be (I myself had to wake up at like 3am–ouch!). If there are two things that are frustrating, here’s the second: The insights into life…
There’s a phrase that has been rattling around in my head for about a year: He suffered the same fate as us. It has come to shape the way I make decisions, especially difficult ones. Jesus did not save us…
“It’s not the years; it’s the miles.” Except, of course, when it’s both. Plus a third thing: it’s also a Plymouth. 270,000 miles in over ten years is a miracle, but for what? Her fate is unaltered. You’re supposed to…
“Faith without works is dead.” So says James, bringing a difficult tension into the Christian life. Protestant Christianity, at least, with its emphasis on faith alone, has had a difficult time figuring out what to do with James’s words. I…
St. Paul wanted to convince the Galatians not to get circumcised, which you would think wouldn’t be that hard to do. Just a simple diagram is all it would take, with big letters at the top: “Really?!?” Controversy over! In…
Somewhere in a corner of a neighborhood in transition in St. Louis a small group of weary travelers voted to disband their church. I knew it was coming. I mean, I didn’t know that it was going to be this…
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” What a way to start a book! The is from Albert…
1. I am excited about Ben Shive’s new album coming out soon. Like maybe within a week, for the Kickstarter crew. Little known fact: I was the original drummer in the Ben Shive Circus, as it was originally called. I…
One of the new catchphrases in the missional church world is that we shouldn’t plant churches, we should plant the gospel. By being gospel-centered, rather than church-centered (normally pronounced, “Self-centered”), the mission can be preserved. It’s also a way of…
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