Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
I’m an avid reader. I love books: to buy them, receive them, read them, and collect them. My common birthday and Christmas gift requests are for books. I have four bookcases of them, full and overflowing, with another 100 stacked on the floor. My overstuffed library is a dilemma. I need another bookshelf. This reminds […]
Today is Sunday and many who love God will worship him today. But why? These are all secondary reasons. Worshiping God is not about us, it’s about him. The primary reason we worship God is to affirm him. He doesn’t need our affirmation, but we need to offer it. That’s what worship is.
We live in a fast-paced world. It seems there are always ten things to do at once—and at least two are urgent. So we plan and schedule in an attempt to fit (most) everything in. It’s easy to approach God that way when we pray and read the Bible: plan and schedule, squeeze it in, […]
There are two approaches to take when reading the Bible: quantity and quality. Quantity In the past I’ve read the entire Bible through in a year, many times. Other times I’ve opted to read the Old Testament in a year and many more times, the New Testament in a year. The pace is a bit […]
My perspective on Halloween has changed over the years. Here are my seven reflections on Halloween As a kid I relished the opportunity to score some candy, a rare and treasured treat. As a teen I was too old to go trick-or-treating, but there was usually a party to go to or friends to hang […]
For the past two weeks, I’ve been sharing a progression of thought about God as it relates to love and fear. Consider: We are to fear God, which begins to produce understanding and wisdom. We grow to understand that God is love and ultimately that perfect love—as embodied by Jesus—removes our fear. Though we may […]
As a writer, I write alone; it’s a solitary activity. So it’s good for me to periodically emerge from my self-imposed cocoon and spend time with other people—and other writers are the people who understand me best, those with who I am most comfortable to be around. I just returned from a Christian Writers conference. […]
I recently read an article where the author lamented, “Young people are leaving the church.” A bit later he wrote, “Young people don’t stick with their faith.” His implication was that the two statements meant the same thing. They do not—and assuming they do is part of the problem. I’ve had frequent, ongoing struggles with […]
On a blog I follow there was a drawing for a free book. I’m all about books and it’s even better when they’re free. To enter, I needed to share “what the theological vision for your church is in two sentences or less.” Now the word “theological” repels me, even though theology is simply “the […]
When I think about worshiping God, I first think of singing songs to him and about him. Yes, that’s a part of worship, but there’s more. Next, I think about worshiping God by giving money to him and his causes. That’s another aspect of worship, but there’s more. Third, I think about worshiping God by […]