If you didn’t know, I’m writing this book. Just a fun little project, a fiction piece, an attempt to articulate in a creative form my feelings on how it looks like to live out the faith, following the Gospel.
I’m realizing following the Gospel is dangerous. I’m also realizing that following the Gospel is so obvious. There are some things Jesus says that are confusing and quite stuck in the cultural context, however most of what he said is pretty plain. In the book I’ve set up the characters in a …

I wanted to lend a little more context to this passage that I have seen as we read through the sermon on the mount. The passage I’m talking about is:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:18-21

First of all you …

“If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”
- 1 Timothy 6:8
 

One of the greatest struggles for a Christian in the consumerist American culture that we are a part of is to be content. You are daily bombarded on all sides by hundreds of advertisements telling you that you need this product or that. Even within the church, Sunday mornings continue to perpetuate word-of-mouth advertising about the new outfit, restaurant or electronics purchase. Is it even possible to step back from that culture, that has been so …

I was listening to Saturday’s with Mark and Tony and Tony Campolo mentioned the quote, which you’ve maybe heard before:
“God created us in his image, and we decided to return the favor.” -George Bernard Shaw
He was acknowledging that we tend to have churches divided by race, socio-economic status, political views, etc. because we each make God in our image. This made me think about another thing someone once said to me when we were talking about politics and I was saying that the best way to vote is to vote …

This won’t be a long post, nor will it be all-inclusive. There are a lot of things to be happy about, my beautiful wife, beautiful community, friends, food, family, the list goes on. Two, though I thought worth of touching on this late evening.

I might be biased, being a married person myself, but there is something very beautiful about weddings. I don’t think it’s the pretty dresses, fancy tux or sparklers, it’s something about the commitment being made. It’s true, are society (Christian and not) doesn’t seem to take the …

I don’t know much about sacraments, I know very little in fact. Some of what I know is basically that sacraments are things that religious folks (particularly some Christian denominations) are into, to varying degrees. Sacraments are ’special’ things and events, stuff like baptism and communion. I wasn’t sure of what I thought about the concept, but I liked one of my profs views back in college, Quakers believe everything is a sacrament.
From Wikipedia on Sacraments:

The Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) do not practice formal sacraments, believing that all activities …

There was quite a bit of conversation last week after I posted about the benevolent act of Philip Workman, a man executed in Tennessee last week for murder. The initial comments put me deep in thought and I’ve been trying to think through my values and ethics and trying to make sure I’m not holding double standards. This is not a direct response to those comments, but it was provoked by those thoughts. Today, I simply wanted to write a brief devotional thoughts post about some of the heroes of …

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. -Jesus“
Given that some readers of this blog get the idea that I’m a pretty sad person, I felt it might be important to point out a component of my faith that I sometimes take for granted, and don’t speak out much. I’m a Christian Hedonist, this is definitely a topic for another time, but I basically want to mention that I don’t live a life Trying …