Really, what is the church?If you take your cues from the contemporary evangelical world, it's a voluntary society - like the Kiwanis or Rotary club, like the Gideons or YMCA. Apparently we've learned our ecclessiology from John Locke. Locke wrote, "A church, then, I take to be a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together … Continue reading Mother Kirk, Part 1
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Means of Grace in the Church
Some ideas are challenging because they are difficult and new. Sometimes ideas are challenging because they have been poorly communicated. On Sunday I made an idea that was challenging because it's new to many more difficult because I poorly communicated it. Usually I don't go back and reexplain myself here on my blog, but I … Continue reading Means of Grace in the Church
Fantasy Kills Imagination (and the church)
Last week I read a great post from Donald Miller, How Fantasy is Killing Your Imagination. It was a convicting piece, forcing me to ponder what kinds of dreams I indulge.Miller writes, I’m capable of living almost exclusively in my mind. I can walk and daydream for hours. But some of these daydreams haven’t proved … Continue reading Fantasy Kills Imagination (and the church)
Toxic Idea
For the summer I'm leading the Connexion study on "Toxic Ideas" - ideas/presuppositions we've swallowed, often knowingly and usually uncritically. Last Thursday we looked at the idea prevalent in our iPhone obsessed culture that newer is always better, thinking through several key passages that command us to remember and hold onto the past and the Tradition … Continue reading Toxic Idea
Iowa Caucus, Apartheid & the Church
A few days ago I heard a reporter say that the Iowa Caucuses could come down to which candidate the evangelical pastors in Iowa backed on Sunday morning from their pulpits. I'm not sure that's how it played out or not, but the idea is repugnant to me (I think there should be disciplinary procedures … Continue reading Iowa Caucus, Apartheid & the Church
God Entranced 