Where do I begin?
Campolo and Bono do a great job expressing eloquently the social imperative the follower of Christ faces.  They resonate with me, much like the emotional growl of a great jazz singer or the funky bass of a hardcore band, they pound my chest with vibration.  After listening to a message by Campolo in the car on our way to Pizza Hut, I told my wife "I am converted all over again." What to do then?  I cheer on Bono, calling on Am

Inner healing as tough work Part 2.
The work of inner healing sneaked up on me. Unlike last time when I had made a conscious effort to work things through, today I was caught off guard.  It began last night as memories of the pain I felt in my ministry in Faribault came flooding back, mercilessly.  Today, also out of the blue, God helped me understand why I was hurt. I so desired their approval, that I went to great lengths, but their respect was not something I was going to receive.  God was gracious and was nearer to me then in more tangibility than ever.

Yoder and justification
Forgive the incoherence of these thoughts, they come from the cloud of a swine flu mind. I am captured by Yoder's thoughts on justification.  He asserts that Paul had the unification of Jew and Gentile as the stuff of justification.  Justified, the people groups have been made right in Christ.  The wrong of their separation has been replaced by one new body, that of Christ.  Here justification is also a work of God that makes us clean, but it is more than simply a judicial proclamation that w

Thoughts on Amazing Grace: Contemplation in the dark
As Wilberforce grew in his contemplative desire, so too was he drawn to the dark places.  The mystic who wrote the Cloud of Unknowing calls the place of highest contemplation a dark cloud, where all that we think we see and know about God falls away. As Wilberforce sees the light of God in the beauty of spider webs and dandelions, so too does he see through them to the abyss of God's nature, where no image or thought is lofty enough to express God in who God is. It is a similar cloud that captures Wilberforce as he gazes into the injustice around him. The film presents his explorations of the slave trade simultaneous to his exploration of God's creation.  The Spirit

Prophetic voice
Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-6 Proclaim the injustice to the church. They act like their nation has been chosen by me. They act as if their going to church and their religiosity, their work ethic and moral certitude was what I desired. They sing their songs loudly to me. They quarrel over whose worship feels best. And they pray to me for revival. As if they could stand my Spirit's Holy presence! As if they actually wanted me to show up! Is this what I desire? Merely a morning sitting bored in a pew? Merely their acquiescence to my word? Is this what I desire, while they consume the vast majority of the world's resources and ig