I wrote this post in the summer of 2011. The trend has continued in the succeeding years. I will write something more current on the issue, but this old posts still stands. I've been noticing lately within Mainline Protestant circles, the rising use of the word "progressive" as a way to describe Christians who might... Continue Reading →
Repost: Out of Place
Note: I wrote this earlier this year about relationships. One thing I'd like to add: tell people that you care for them or that you are their friend. For someone like me with autism it can make all the difference in the world. When I was in high school, I ran track. I didn't run... Continue Reading →
Adventures In Church Planting: 2013 (REPOST)
Writer’s note: I was going to write another post about church planting in Mainline churches, and I still plan to, but I think this post sums up a lot of what I am feeling still. One update: I am not leading the new church team anymore.
As most of you know, I’ve been the head of a new church ministry in my Region. There have been some good and not so good developments in the area of church planting last year, though for the most part it was a down year in many ways. The good news is that our group got bigger as a few more people expressed interest in being involved. The so-so news is how I’m leading. I want to give people the chance to step up and take part, but I have to balance that with the need to just get something done.
The not-so-good things is the fact that a lot of potential church plants just died on the vine. One planter looked like he was going to plant a new community in the eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Things seemed to be moving ahead and then he back out…
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Repost: Beyond George Zimmerman (the Ferguson Edition)
I do have something to say about Michael Brown, the police and Ferguson, MO. But while I'm thinking about what to write, I wanted to share a post I wrote in the days following the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin. Funny how only the names have been changed. Ever since... Continue Reading →
Repost: Saving Liberal Christianity
The following is a post written in 2012. On the heels of what I wrote late last week on the pitfalls of Progressive Christianity, there has been a flurry of articles on the future of liberal Christianity. I want to start off with a piece by Allan Bevere who wrote the following last Friday: In... Continue Reading →
Repost: On Funerals and Christian Cliches
On Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year is a time many churches have "Blue Christmas" services. Mindful of that, I wanted to share this post from 2012. This past weekend, I was in Orlando, Florida for the funeral of an uncle. My Uncle David was the youngest of my mother's siblings dying at... Continue Reading →
Repost: God Doesn’t Love the One Percent.
From 2012. I have a mixed relationship with Mary's Magnificat found in Luke 1. On the one hand it is a wonderful message of justice; that the lowly in life will be vindicated and remembered by God. I love singing the song A Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney. But the text also is... Continue Reading →
Repost: Church Planting; A Step of Faith
I'm not saying that pastor and other church leaders should not be paid. What I am saying is that in many cases, we aren't so willing to take a step of faith, in planting churches and in the funding of church plants and planters.
Repost: I Miss the Old Mel White
The positive Mel White of old the "SpongeBob Squarepants of the gay community" is long gone. What's left is a man that's pretty pissed off at the church and when I say church, I mean the whole church.