Jordon sent me to this article by Brian McLaren on The Movie hype: It's found at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2004/cln40309.html I like this paragraph: Our world is torn by ethnic, class, and religious hatred. Don't show the emerging culture a movie about Jesus: show them a movement of people living like Jesus—people who like him love the different, … Continue reading The Godfather Weighs In →

I was rereading Henri Nouwen's wonderful little book "In The Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership" today as I worked on my sermon. These words jumped out at me: It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and … Continue reading Wisdom From Brother Henri →

Rudy and I were playing around one night on AIM when we started talking about the recent thread at the Emergent site on People of Color and the Emerging Church. Like many right brained creative types, we began to think about possibilities for furthering the conversation. It's important to know the context of my ministry. … Continue reading Dreaming of the Multicultural Church →

Has anyone noticed that the Typepad blogs load really slowly during business hours? What' up with that?

Rudy has linked to a Newsweek article on "The Passion" phenomenon. Since I am declaring a moratorium on all writings on The Movie, I won't comment on the specifics of the article, even when the Christian marketing expert calls evangelical Christianity "the new gay" (hey, I'm not making this up). Of course, some of the … Continue reading Marketing Christ →

We had a bit of a conflict today at the church, and I confess that I didn't deal with it well. In fact, I lost my temper a bit. Of course, there are all sorts of ways I could justify this. I was tired. I was trying to watch my kids, train our new offering … Continue reading Dealing With Conflict →

Well The Lord of the Rings already has five Oscars, and there's still a lot more night to go. Is anyone surprised?

Since everyone in the blogosphere seems to be putting in their two cents about The Passion, and since folks in my church have been asking, I suppose I should share my reflections on the movie now that I've seen it. I hesitate a bit. Movies like this one are better left to roll around in … Continue reading The Passion →

I was going through some old files tonight and came upon this meditation I wrote on community several years ago. I like it (I think) and share it with you: Community is a phrase that is easily thrown about in the church today. All manner of preachers, theologians, philosophers, social theorists, biblical scholars, and even … Continue reading Reflections on Community →

...people generally do not adopt a set of beliefs called "Christianity" and then pick out a church in which to express them. People become "Christian" by practicing a variety of activities enriched by traditions and cultures of the faithful across the generations -- worshipping, singing, praying, eating, reading scripture, visiting the sick, helping the needy. … Continue reading Spiritual Practices →

"Cats ignite, but luckily there's grace... Anne Lamott

"From our neighbor comes life or death. If we win over our brother or sister, then we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother and sister, we have sinned against Christ."

. . . but I'm too busy. Aaaagggghhh!

. . . but I'm too busy. Aaaagggghhh!

I've been re-reading David Halberstam's book, "The Children," which is (I think) one of the best overviews of the Civil Rights movement. As I was reading, I discovered that yesterday was the forty-fourth anniversary of the lunch-counter sit-ins here in Nashville. The leaders of these sit-ins would go on to provide much of the leadership … Continue reading Remembering Where We Have Been →

My father sent me this, which I share with his permission: I found Jen Lemen's comment interesting and pondered over it all day., but I think it did not go far enough. The scuffle for "Coolness" goes even farther; the lust for the next cooler thing stifles in depth thinking on too many levels. Are … Continue reading A Message From Dad →

My father has been bugging me to change the title image. White bread didn't seem to fit my writing, politics, or theology. So instead we'll have the seven wonders of the world...

Jen Lemen offers the following insight on her blog, an insight that I hope folks will lean toward: my point is this: maybe in our rush to be all things cool and new, we are missing some very old ways to uncover christ in our midst, and i include myself here. maybe in our desire … Continue reading Yes! →

In this ongoing discussion regarding the definition of the "emerging church," several have noted a discomfort with the name. Signposts offers a good analysis of the problems. The "emerging" label has been misused by folks as it has been transformed from a description of a desire into a brand. Although I wasn't around when some … Continue reading Emerging From What? →

During the past few days, there has been some discussion going around the blogs on the nature of the "emerging church" movement. Folks like Andrew Jones have been attempting to define what this is all about. Others like Alan Creech say that it's not a movement, but rather a loose way of thinking that is … Continue reading What Does It Mean to be Emerging? →