Today millions of our siblings in Christ join together in an 1,100+ year-old tradition of commonly referred to as ‘Ash Wednesday’. The ashes – which are from the burned palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday service – are placed
Have been using Leo Tolstoy’s short story “What Men Live By” for a class I get to team teach. It is a wonderful read… I commend it to you. The following quotations are from its conclusion. And you can find
“I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways that you can’t imagine.” Kathleen Norris One of the most common changes in developing a rhythm of contemplative prayer
Yesterday a good friend had open heart value replacement surgery. Clinton Wilson (who is one of the people I’m working with to open a bar in Seattle) is not even 30 years old, and is one of the biggest hearted
“The church, like Peter, is both a stumbling block and a cornerstone. It is the latter only when it is consciously contrite for being, and having been, the former.” Gil Baile I can only provide a personal answer to this question. I
Who am I? Arguably, one of the great gifts modernity offered humanity has been the gift of “the self”; and like all gifts it cloaked a curse. So much has been said in critique of the modern idea of the
“The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.” Marcel Proust One session every three to four weeks is normal with, and a duration of six months to a year or longer
Today my son, Pascal goes in for surgery to have his adenoids removed and his second set of drainage tubes installed in his ears. He’s 3.5 years old and suffered with non-stop ear infections for at least three of those
Today’s entry is intended for use by those who proactively shape the ethos of Quest by participating as our hosting forum. Quest’s “Hosting Forum” is the gathering of participants from our spiritual community who intentionally & collectively discern on behalf
You may have noticed that my journal has been a bit quiet. In addition to needing to complete grading the final assignments for five different courses at two different schools and calculating final grades for those classes by the early
I’ve been keeping my eyes open for online advent calendars. I been using the one created by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington; I bet many artists, spiritual directors, liturgists, and faith communities are making some interactive advent calendars. If you
I am weary in almost every way. From disappointing myself, and others, from misrepresenting that which is so important to me; weary of not being enough husband for my partner, father for my son, pastor for my community, colleague for
Growth as a child of God… How is it measured? One of the metaphors left in the wake of the modern church is the metaphor of the steady, uphill climb. It’s the idea that though the way is rocky and
Karen Horst Cobb, wrote a powerful short editorial titled, No Longer a Christian, it was published on www.CommonDreams.org. Worth really reading. On a personal note. What a great day. I had the privilege of spending a good chunk of the
Just thought I’d post a reminder that there is a collective effort to make a stand in the face of “mindless consumerism.” For a number of years Adbusters has been promoting “Buy Nothing Day” as means of raising awareness and
A few years ago I asked a few people to help me see myself as “pastor” and “leader”. Through the process of that three month conversation I made a number of commitments that I revisit often and fail even frequently.
This morning I had the privilege of interacting with the Mars Hill Graduate School student leadership. I’ve got to say that they are an impressive group. In all of my schooling I have never seen a student led group so
To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend. Jacques Derrida One of the great thinkers of our time has died. On Friday, October 8 2004, Jacques Derrida died at a Paris hospital of pancreatic
Innocence cannot be saved. It seems every child will experience this loss. And it always hurts. Yesterday I watched as my three-year-old son lost some of his innocence to a small group of boys ranging from 4-8 year-olds who were
“Theology is the study of God and [God’s] ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study us and our ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that
Let me pick up from my “young love” post of yesterday. So I was a poor college student recently home from studying abroad. Lynette’s birthday was coming up and I didn’t have two cents to rub together. I opted to
Before Lynette and I were married – like most young lovers, I suppose – I was certifiably nuts about her. Though we first knew each other as kids and had hung out together through much of our junior and senior
I been so swamped lately I don’t know which way is up. We spent part of last week in Canada last week, visiting my folks. It was nice to be together though we almost missed the ferry on our way
What is the relationship between content and transformation? Does context matter? What about one’s body? Is there teaching that is requisite for life change? And what is “life change?” As the Greek philosophers pondered thousands of years ago, can virtue
One of the first people Lynette & I connected with when we moved to metro-Seattle (roughly eight years ago) was Mark Driscoll. Mark is the founding pastor of Marshill Fellowship, a dynamic communicator, intelligent, driven, and fiercely committed to the
I grew up in Southern Manitoba (Canada). This was and still is Mennonite country. Mennonites are a Christian religious sect in the Anabaptist tradition taking our name from a dynamic Dutch leader named Menno Simmons, who was born in Friesland
OK, so I’m breaking my Sabbath. For a few years Saturdays have been days of rest which I have primarily defined as non-computer days for me; no email, no blogging, no writing, no browsing, no gaming, etc. Saturdays are family
Recently, my friend Jacob highlighted Randy Frazee (author of “Connecting Church,” and “Making Room for Life”) and Randy’s encouragement to make use of certain tools to aid us in replacing “too many” weak relational connections and build a smaller number
My friend, Rudy Carrasco’s son, Sam, is battling cancer. The Rudy and Kafi are keeping an online journal to keep friends and family in the loop – pray with me. Praying, dwight
I wanted to post a few photos of one of my favorite spaces in the world. My studio – I love this place. It is NOT an office – I don’t like the “office” metaphor – it is a studio;
