Loved this synopsis of Christian involvement in the greater good...
From the Manhattan Declaration:"Christians are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.  While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire’s sanctioning of infanticide. We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaini

The Next Step in Virtual Church...
Is it real or is it satire? Hard to say... and THAT'S probably the saddest part. (Hint: It's not real, but still...)

Joy and frustration...
A good and frustrating (and so maybe good) night for me last night. Sunday nights tend to be harder for me as the day is so long. I'm usually at it pretty early, refining my sermon or working on last minute details. And If I've preached, then done something like lead a new people's group, there's not a whole lot left in the tank for Sunday evening. But yesterday I wasn't preaching at our 3rd/evening gathering, so it was a little less of an issue. First, the good. Last night I kept Jack, our 5 year old with me in the gathering the whole time. He did (mostly) great. We could probably think of it

Who we are becoming... accidentally
I heard someone say today "Pastors often lose sight of who they are."I think to some extent that may be true- especially for those of us who tend towards the co-dependant. Being driven more by who others want us to be things we aren't. But I think it might be more precise to say we often become people we didn't intend to be. And we do so by living reactively- taking each day as it comes, dealing with the facts (and fires) on the ground, avoiding the 50,000 foot view altogether. And the 50,000 ft view is a picture of who we want to be down the road. This week I was reading Letters To A Skeptic by Greg Boyd. In it, he talks abou

Review: Sim Church pt 1
It's really difficult for me not to come out swinging when a book I've been promised deals with real questions in an even handed manner begins with breathless statements like "Today a new community of the people of God has begun... A change is occurring in the Christian church the likes of which has not happened in centuries...This type of church is unlike any church the w