There is more to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah than is commonly known. The prophet Ezekiel and Jesus combine to add some important details to our understanding of these ancient Dead Sea communities. The Rest of the Story–In the 16th chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet doesn’t emphasize the violence and sexual behaviors for which […]
What if followers of Jesus won every election for leadership and public policy? What if, in the process, we collectively earned a reputation for being a decent and honest people? What if we were universally regarded, not as self-righteous, money-loving, hypocrites, but as faithful, sincere advocates of personal and social morality? What if all of […]
I had a discussion with a friend over lunch the other day that got pretty intense. We’ve had these kinds of conversations before and have always ended up parting with a smile and looking forward to the next time. This day was no different, except that, looking back, we came closer to being farther away […]
A friend sent me a note reminding me to “Vote for… [name omitted].” The truth is that my friend and I are voting for different candidates in this election. So was he pulling my chain in telling me who to vote for? Yes. But, actually he didn’t name a candidate. He said, “Vote for [someone […]
Seems to me that this season of cutthroat politics gives us a way of looking at how some of us are handling our opinions about “the emerging church” issue. All too often we have seen opposing parties put the worst possible face on the other side. Over and over we have seen both sides look […]
I’ve been deeply moved, as have many others, by reading your personal responses to the post on “Personal Economics and Uncertainties,” Here’s one I thought I’d bring forward, as a post. innkeeper says: With the colorful foliage falling down in rural Maine, the deepset poverty and desperation is visible just driving down most roads. Mile […]
Over the last couple of days I’ve been trying to think of a way to express what I find so disturbing about the “emerging church” debate. Let me try this. Many of us know that just before the end of the first century our resurrected Lord returned in a vision to his dear friend and […]
In my last post I listed a number of ways that some followers of Christ are trying to do church differently than their parents’ generation. But the pendulum of change often swings from one extreme to another and reactions can result in over-correction. For that reason, and because we’ve already acknowledged some of the problems that […]
Over the past decade there has been growing controversy about “a new way of doing church.” The debate has been generational in nature. Many of our sons and daughters are forming or joining congregations that don’t look or sound like our kind of church. Yet, they are likely to tell us that they are just […]
It’s Saturday and a cool rain is falling in West Michigan. Not supposed to get over 50 degrees F. Leaves are turning and dropping. Sort of happy they are too wet and heavy to rake today. Big 10 football game this afternoon. This year’s underdog University of Michigan plays rival Michigan State. But for the […]
