Why We Can’t Have Priorities
We have a very peculiar relationship with time. We find ourselves needing to kill time and make time. We experience time flying by and standing still. Sometimes we want time to slow down and other times we want it to…
Informed But Still Deformed
The Great Failure Some of the greatest failures in the church over the past few years have had less to do with what is professed in our words and more around what is performed in our lives. Nationally visible leaders…
Where is Christ Community most vulnerable in 2021? (Or: What Muskoxen Can Teach us about Spiritual Warfare)
The local church’s greatest vulnerability is the same as the greatest vulnerability of musk oxen in the Arctic. What? Stay with me. Recently my kids and I watched the National Geographic special The Kingdom of the White Wolf. It follows…
Rediscovering Jesus’ Kingdom
What’s the primary difference between a classic Bollywood and Hollywood love story? More than the amount of dancing, the difference lies in what makes the ending truly happy. In a Hollywood love story, at the center are two individuals on…
Opening More than Open Here
From the beginning, Christ Community has sought to not only share information about Jesus but also be a catalyst in spiritual formation toward Christlikeness. Core to our DNA is the longing to multiply whole disciples, not just inform the masses. …
“I don’t want to go to heaven!”
How could anyone not want to go to heaven? That was the question blaring in my mind as I sat across from a five year old girl that morning in Sunday school. When I was in middle school, I volunteered…
Nurturing our Natures
By Curt Thompson, MD Reposted with permission from https://curtthompsonmd.com/resources/ As I have written elsewhere, [Tweet "Evil does its best work in the middle of good work being done—and using shame as its primary occupational tool."] And there is no better…
The Comparison Trap
I don’t know about you, but I am ready for church to get to whatever “normal” is going to look like moving forward. Yet, I also have to admit I am humbled and reminded of my selfishness when I consider…
I Want to Be a Tree: Learning to Trust from a Mighty Sequoia
I want to be a tree “I want to be a tree.” I felt these words deep in my bones as I stood before the largest tree in the world. His name is General Sherman, located in Sequoia National Park…
We Need New Retirement Goals
I have never retired from my job before, and I probably won’t for some time (Lord willing), so it may seem a little strange that I am writing about it. But I am a pastor to many retirees, and have…