Was friend recently talking with a friend about the old saying which suggests that Christ-followers live in two worlds. Do we though? How are we to think about this? I’m not sure we want to have one foot in each
A Daily Prayer by Saint Teresa of Calcutta Dear Jesus, Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only
It seems that many of the worship gatherings within the world of emerging churches reinforce dualism. Without meaning to, they seem to say, “When we’re together, we’re worshipping” and “when we’re not, we’re not.” I can’t help but wonder how
I finished my “unleadership” essay for my doctoral program. I titled it, “Hubbing: The “Being” and “Act” of Leadership within Dynamic Christ-Clusters.” I hope to take some of the main ideas from the essay and turning it into shorter and
I’ve been diligently trying to meet a deadline for my doctoral work. I have my next major essay due on Monday. I’m getting close to finishing it, but “the devil’s in the details.” And I’m doing my best to cast
Well I’m back from Wheaton College’s theology conference. It was most delightful. In addition to a few outstanding papers and meeting a good number of theologians I’ve enjoyed reading over the last few years, I also came home with a
Over the past few months I elicited a small group of friends to help me evaluate my person and leadership. This small group comprised of three men and two women have known me for an average of three and one-half
Church by Dwight J. Friesen Restless boy yanking at his neck tie Flipping through hymnals, Bibles and Sunday School papers No match for the sermon fidgets Those warming the pews trade yawns Waiting For the last song and benediction Long
Ok, so yesterday morning I was reading in my studio, I look up and my monitor shows me nothing but the “blue screen of death,” the fatally corrupted disk error that we all dread. I valiantly gave my PC mouth-to-mouth
In while living in India in1925 E. Stanley Jones published an insightful book called, “The Christ along the Indian Road.” At one point in the book he describes the “conversion by sword” which Islam brought to India (much like the
Some penetrating questions were posted in response to some journal entries during Holy Week, and I would like to spend some time engaging them further. Anyone who knows me or something of my narrative, knows that the certainty with which
In-between. Holy Saturday is in many ways, the day of Holy Week most like our day-to-day lives. Holy Saturday is one of those days that Christ-followers may well have looked back on with almost a “now but not yet” sense.
It is Holy Friday. Jesus is dead. And so are the hopes of Jesus’ followers. And when hope moves out, fear and fear’s friends quickly move in. Mary tenderly holds the lifeless body of her son… her little boy. “What
It’s Maundy Thursday. This morning as I was walking through the Stations of the Cross is was drawn in – in a special way – by the eighth station: “The women of Jerusalem, and their children, come out to comfort
I’m in the process of writing an essay on the concept of leadership as a communal ethos (I talked a little about this on 3/25). This is a constructivist position arguing in favor of a self-emptying, relationally connective form of
We moved to metro Seattle two years after the death of Kurt Cobain. I’ve often wished we’d been here to experience Seattle’s grunge era in all its glory. Sometimes it feels like there is a Cobain shaped void in the
I’m in the process of grading a stack of research papers for a course at Mars Hill Grad School. At the same time I have some writing deadlines that are coming due in my doctoral program. So I’ve been spending
Do leaders exist ontologically? I know that some church traditions claim an ontological ordination but that just seems to set us up for abuse of power, (of course the church would never abuse its power). Most leadership literature speaks more
Sad news out of Iraq. Five Christian missionaries – Larry Elliot, Jean Elliot, Karen Watson, David McDonnall, and Carrie McDonnall – while scouting sites for a possible water purification plant were gunned down in the northern city of Mosul… Carrie
I’ve received a couple of follow-up emails from friends asking what’s prompted my dump of questions in 3/21’s entry. First off, yes, I am well aware of the self-deconstructive tone of my questions. Many of those questions reflect my personal
What is power in a loving relationship? When John Calvin wrote, that he was – among other things – seeking a way for the church to be kept pure without “the Church,” thus there was great safety in the system
I am finding myself with a growing distaste for everything I have written to date. I want to deconstruct all of it in my good moments and burn all of it and take up furniture making in my bad moments.
Complexity seems to find its fullness in beauty. So I’m not sure I connect as much with the subtle message that complexity is bad and beauty is good. Some people speak of God as a God of order rather than
Last night I had the opportunity to take a few minutes in a class at Mars Hill Grad School to present a boiled-down version of my Scale-Free Kingdom/Churches as Christ-Clusters paradigm. Dr. Bryan Burton who is guiding the theology course
Back in the 1920’s E. Stanley Jones wrote something to the effect of, Christ did not come to abolish Judaism but to fulfill it. Jones went on to build a case challenging the colonialist missionary movement of his day, arguing
Together with a few friends I am reading a great book called, “The Face of the Deep: a theology of becoming” – by Catherine Keller. The text is witty and wonderfully creative. It’s a feminist, constructivist challenge to the doctrine
In the words of Olivia Newton John – almost – “Let’s get metaphysical, metaphysical, we wanna get metaphysical, let us hear Christ’s body talk…” (or something like that). I’m in the process of writing a short paper on leadership. I
