This week we have seen in our world two tragedies. Tuesday night a student at EMU was killed. Today we are experiencing the horror of a school shooting in Connecticut that has resulted in the death of nearly thirty children.It is at times like this when I fall to my knees and ask God, "Why?" Where is God in the midst of this kind of tragic violence? Why did God allow this senselessness to happen?...
Friday, December 14, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The Difficulty of Staying True
When I began the process of church planting there was one thing that became abundantly clear, vision is the first casualty. Every time I share with someone about what is happening with the Antioch Movement they have advice for me. This advice is their vision, their hope, their dream of the...
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Danger of Trusting in Celebrity
I have recently had a few people tell me, "Pastors keep failing. I think that God is raising up athletes to be his spokesmen to reach this generation." Then the names of certain prominent Christian athletes are brought up.Pastors fail all the time.So do athletes.The ones we know about are also celebrities.Christian celebrity is a new phenomenon. It really began with the First Great Awakening. Prior...
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
What is Our Christian Identity?
In the previous post we looked at the necessity of rightly understanding our Christian identity. Now we must ask, what is our uniquely Christian identity? Many times when I think about Christian identity the image of a superhero pops into my mind. Almost all superheroes have secret identities....
Monday, November 19, 2012
The Necessity of Rightly Understanding Christian Identity
The follower of Jesus is a strange person. He does not fit any place. Jesus told him to "be in the world, not of the world." What does that even mean? Christians have been struggling with this concept ever since Jesus said it.Yesterday I spent some time with a group of men that I affectionately refer...
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Creating Rhythm and Routine In An Empty Calendar
I officially became a church planter in August. It's a weird and exciting experience. In many ways it is similar to when I was leading teams with Cru. The big difference though is that Amy has responsibilities outside our home and Ethan and Libby are in school. There is a new rhythm in our home and...
Thursday, November 8, 2012
2012 Post Election Thoughts From A Pastor
As we enter into the post election calm it occurred to me that we as Christians need some perspective. Nothing on the political landscape has changed. Everything today is as it was the day before the election. What we must understand as Jesus followers is that this election has taught us a very important...
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The Generation That Will Change The World
Received this in an email today:The day has arrived - Einstein said it and he was right... Having a coffee...Getting together at a restaurant...Enjoying beautiful art at the museum...Pleasantly chatting in a cafe'… Enjoying a day at the beach...At the stadium rooting for your team...Having...
Monday, October 29, 2012
How Facebook Timeline Challenges Our Desire For Control
Do you want to see people rant like lunatics? Change something on Facebook.There has been no change in the history of Facebook that the masses have initially liked. However, it isn't long until everyone likes the new feature or change and gets on with their life.One of the biggest changes to come along...
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Enjoy...
I am working through a life plan through Don Miller's storyline. This morning I was struck by this statement, "You exist to enjoy a relationship with God."While not wholly an accurate theological statement, there is something in it that resonates.It's something I've forgotten.Enjoy a relationship with...
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
The Social Experiment
My wife and I have a combined social network on Facebook of around 1300 people. While there is some overlap many are unique.We are launching a church planting movement in Ypsilanti, MI called the The Antioch Movement. Part of launching this movement requires us to raise about $40,000 for 2013.Amy and...
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
A Prayer
Heavenly Father, We adore you for you are sovereign and good. The date, 9/11, while it lives in our collective memory like a splinter, serves as a reminder that we are a frail people, easily broken. You, however, are our rock and our shield.Today, we thank you again for the bravery of those who ran in when everyone else ran out. Men and women who chose to be your hands and feet in a moment of...
Monday, September 3, 2012
A Sent Savior Sends a Sent People
The book of Acts tells our family stories. Take a listen as I share the story of the church at Antio...
Friday, August 31, 2012
Uncle Bob
Some have asked for the text of my message from my Uncle Bob's funeral. Here it is:I remember the day well. I was sitting in my office when my secretary came in and said, "Dan, Doug's gone and Patti's mother just died. You need to do the funeral."I had no idea what to do.So, I called my Uncle Bob. He...
Monday, August 13, 2012
Something Old
Tomorrow I leave for Traverse City with two good friends. We are not going there to vacation. We are going to work. We are going to go and get before the God of the universe and align our hearts, minds, and vision to his.When we return, something old is going to begin again.A movement.The Church in...
Monday, July 9, 2012
Thankful for Everything
We just returned from a week of mission in Menifee County, KY, and at Grace Chapel, we just finished a preaching series on stewardship. As I drove home the two collided in my mind and, hopefully, my heart.Our key text was Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those...
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Connectional?
Some news popped regarding the future of the PCUSA's connectional system:A Presbyterian Church (USA) commission has voted 15-5 to allow non-geographic presbyteries. The move, which would allow churches to choose their own groupings for "missional purposes," follows defections over the denomination's...
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Acts 2 Church...It Still Happens
If you're anything like me you read this passage and think, "hmm, OK...":42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.43 And awetcame upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.44 And all who...
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Moves Like Abraham
On a warm summer day there is nothing better than being at a ball diamond watching my son play baseball. Our family enjoys the camaraderie and the fun of being at the park. We love being with the team and the families. My wife and I delight in watching our son play the game he loves. The life lessons...
Monday, June 4, 2012
Why Are You Moving to Ypsilanti?
We are launching The Antioch Movement with purpose and clarity. The purpose is to launch a global movement of missionary communities that function as ambassadors of King Jesus. We are clear that this movement is to be built by multiplying missionary communities that begin in Ypsilanti, MI...
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Providence in the Problems
There are some doctrines of the faith that become ever more sweet during certain seasons of our lives. Right now I seem to be experiencing the doctrine of Providence in a profound and fresh new way. Maybe it is because God is calling my family and I into something new.I wonder if it's similar to a person...
Friday, May 25, 2012
Touch: A Parable of Providence
Over the last few years I have come to really enjoy smart, well written, dramatic television. I love the fact that the story is not capped in 120 minutes. It is able to be developed, often very intricately. Right now we are enjoying shows like Once Upon A Time, PanAM, The Firm, and Touch.Touch is a...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Charmed to Charred
A few weeks ago Ethan was living the dream. Everything was going his way. He was dominating at the sport he loves, nobody could hit him. He had won a national essay contest where he was able to meet Sharon Robinson. School was simple.Life was good.Over the last ten days his world has come crashing down....
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
DNA of Fatherhood Failure
This weekend Ethan's baseball team was in a huge tournament. On Sunday morning he played terribly at 3B, the worst since t-ball.As Amy and I processed through we came to the conclusion that he was not ready. He has been a pitching more than he has in the past. In his league most kids can't hit his team's...
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Faith My Eyes
Our family is getting very close to entering into the world of movement launching in Ypsilanti, MI. This is scary, exciting, and generates great opportunities to trust him. Right now is a time when I get to cast vision for the vision that, I think, God has laid out in his scriptures to us.As we cast this vision we get many questions and many of them I can't really answer. I have come to the conclusion...
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Why a College Town?
Today we received a newsletter from some friends who serve Cru at Duke University. It got me thinking again about one of the reasons why we are launching The Antioch Movement in Ypsilanti.Very simply: laborers.There is no better place to raise up laborers for the kingdom of God than the university....
Friday, May 11, 2012
The Power of Together
I am sitting in a gathering of Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders of the Midwest Presbytery. When we gather I am astounded by the humility, kindness, and respect of the people around me. What a joy to be a part of a connectional system where we press into relationship. There are difficult issues that...
The End
As I enter into this new stage of life I am realizing that I am about to embark on something unique. For the first time in my life I am the one who has to slow down and listen to God to determine what the ‘end’ is and how he intends to get us there.I think that he is saying that the ‘end’ is ‘now’. As...
Monday, March 26, 2012
Learning to Think...
A couple of years ago our community shifted our thinking about children. We moved from exclusion to inclusion.A little background. We are a Presbyterian church which means that we hold to a covenantal view of the Bible. Which leads us to the conclusion that children are members of the community...
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Reasons I Left The Church - Please Stop
Recently there has been a number of articles that have surfaced outlining why people leave the "church". It was interesting when Barna published its survey results. But now it's become a silly and over done trend.Are local congregations broken? Yes.Why?Because they are filled with broken people.Why?Because...
Monday, March 19, 2012
Grace and a Wedding
Our community, Grace Chapel, studied Revelation 19 a couple of weeks ago. We focused on the metaphor of the wedding feast. This past weekend my brother David was married to the love of his life, Amanda. I couldn't help but think about the beauty of the day and how it erased a lifetime of disappointment.It...
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Be Kind - A Call to Compassionate Debate
We are entering a time of political engagement. The candidates in both parties are all but secured. This means that those on both sides are starting to ramp up their rhetoric with the hopes of winning the White House and the power that comes with it.What I always find interesting in this time of life is watching how Christians engage in the conversation. There tends to be some different...
Monday, February 27, 2012
The Resurrection = Victory
I bumped across an interesting post today. It argues that, "The Symbolism of Jesus on the Cross has as main function to serve as a Warning that not even the Son of God could challenge the System." While this is would be true if the crucifixion is the end of the story, but...It's not.The crucifixion...
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Beast's Submission to the Jackie Robinson Essay Competition
Mrs. Brackett (Ethan's Teacher), Mrs. Robinson, EthanHi, my name is Ethan and I learned in school that Jackie Robinson lived his life by nine values and used them to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. This is a story about a time that I used those same values to overcome a barrier in...
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
I'm a Man!
The interwebs have been buzing about some Christian Superstars who are arguing for a masculine Christianity. The response has been to show that Christianity is feminine. The pendulum keeps swinging. Back and forth.Back and forth.Back and forth.The fact of the matter is that our faith needs...
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
No Really You Have to SEE It!
This morning while I was working away on annual reports, I heard a fascinating little interaction:Robin: "Did you see what Bill did in the Breakaway Room?"Doug: "I heard that he did some work on it."Robin: "Umm...yeah, you need to SEE the Breakaway Room!"Bill had totally repurposed a room. It...