Why do we have such a hard time living among non-Christians and loving them into the kingdom? From Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Once a man has the love of Christ in his heart you need not train him to witness; he will do it. He will know the power, the constraint, the motive; everything is already there. It ...

Father Martin responded to yesterday’s blog post. Did you see his comment? (It’s number 18.) Thank you, Father! As always, it’s good to get the other person’s perspective—Seek First to Understand and all—before making a harsh judgment. I’ll tell you, though. I still have a hard time wr...

This article by Stetzer and Jason Hayes pretty much sums up what we hear from the 18-25 year olds that are connecting with us at Christ Church. What we say: Embraces the reality of doubts and struggles; Owns up to our individual and collective junk; Leaves us with great hope in Jesus. There are othe...

Granted, the pregnancy hormones may be working overtime, but Cate’s lesson on Holy Orders this morning left me in tears. It was so beautiful. “Holy Orders is the sacrament by which men become priests. A priest is a man not like other men. He belongs to God alone. The Sacrament of Holy Orders is ...

Once in a while, the Goddess of Love gives us great gifts. One example is the return of the Goddess of flowers in springtime. But a better example is a moment of "illumination." Enlightenment usually occurs gradually, by the accumulation of moments of illumination. [In Zen, these are called ken-sho,...

Part II Read Part I here. By the time the loaves of bread had risen to the tops of the pans and had baked in the oven to a crusty brown, the afternoon was almost gone. “They’re beautiful,� Mother said, as Ginnie cautiously took the pans from the oven. “They’re done.� Ginnie gave a vast s...

You're committed to helping people take steps in their spiritual lives. You may have even devoted your entire life to it. You know the local church is the hope of the world, but recognize it's struggling to find a connection with people in the community. You're trying to figure out how to mobilize a...

As a young pastor I had the idea that God calls every Christian to do great things. My faith heroes were all mountain-moving, charge-the-hill spiritual warriors. I assumed full submission to Jesus would transform anyone into a spiritual Braveheart; kicking-butt for Jesus and marshalling a battalion ...

It’s almost Lent. Do you know where your favorite spiritual books are? The following is from one of my very favorite tomes, The Three Ages of the Interior Life. For some reason, when I picked it up this morning, it fell open to the section on “retarded souls.� Or maybe—just maybe—I looked ...

I'm excited about a new sermon series starting Sunday as well as a new feature that I am writing. Marked will be all about the marks of a believer as Jesus outlined in the Beatitudes. It will be an eight-week series, spending a week on each Beatitude. In conjunction with the start of Marked, I&#...