Learning from a Pandemic

Dr. Pat Keifert of Church Innovations One of my favourite Missional Theology Yoda Masters is Dr. Pat Keifert of Luther Seminary. He would say there are two kinds of change: continuous change (e.g. from winter into spring) and discontinuous change, which is what we’re dealing with right now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing about our …

“Nobody Was Born Racist” and other Things I Wish Were True

This blog is the continuation of a previous post On Aug 16, 2017, a few days after the alt-right rally in Charlottesville, VA this tweet became the most liked tweet in Twitter’s short history. It’s a quote lifted out of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom that continues, “people must learn to hate, and …

The Gospel of Stranger Things

I discovered a Netflix show called Stranger Things  earlier this summer.  Everybody else probably watched it when it dropped last fall. Either that, or you have no plans to watch it at all, so I am probably safe talking about it, but if you haven’t caught it and are planning to watch it, here are …

My Wife is a Minister of the Word

My wife is a minister of the Word.  What I mean by that is that she is a proclaimer of the Gospel.  She works part-time as a labour and delivery nurse at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, but it is more than a job for her, it is a vocation. A vocation is a calling. It …

Re: Why Churches of Christ are Shrinking

I recently figured out how to get people to read my blog!  Two blog posts recently addressed the flagging fortunes of my tribe and got massive amounts of feedback – Good, bad and ugly.  So all I have to do is talk about the Churches of Christ disappearing and the readers will come!  🙂  I …

Relearning the Gospel

Martin Luther, in his Lecture on Galatians says,  “The truth of the gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine. Most necessary is that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” Luther was well known for theatrically overstated opinions.  I find this writing style encouraging, …

A Once and For All Faith?

Within my tribe (Churches of Christ) and within other groups as well, there is a danger in reading  Jude verse 3 with an air of finality: "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith …

It's not worth being right

This weekend a friend of mine Jon Straker spoke at the Good Friday meeting in Toronto (a gathering of Churches of Christ) and he spoke about redefining the borders of our faith.  This message encouraged many, challenged some, and offended a few.  It was a wonderful call to cast off what we have long claimed …

The Church as the Image of God

Back to blog writing... After having a week of stresses big and small, good and bad, (a term paper, struggling families, a new nephew,  needing a new roof, etc.) I suffered my greatest wound receiving an eight word email that cut me to the quick and took me days to get over. I am encouraged …

Hearing Bible Stories in Light of the Gospel

A continuation of Clarifying the Gospel Part 1 Definition:Gospel (noun) 1.The Gospel is that God, at cost to himself alone and under no obligation, provided for the reconciliation of humankind to Himself without us doing anything to deserve it. God is the hero in every story. I'll bet even if you've never been to church …