Isolation in the Digital Age

I shouldn’t be appalled, but I am. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.Whether it’s the conversation about race, policing, immigration, or just about anything, the tone is downright ugly. Every discussion is polarized. It’s either/or and black/white. There is little nuance. If you try to bring nuance...

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Dogmatic Truth and Grace Part 4

I wrote about the most important thing I learned in Seminary, dogmatic grace. One of the people who commented on the post asked how this jived with St Paul’s statements of judgment in his epistles. There are places where Paul really brings some tough words about people and their belief (or lack thereof).How...

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Lord, Have Mercy

Every day we hear more about ISIS, terrorism, and torture. Every day we are faced with new realities regarding race, class, and politics. Every day we hear about first responders losing their lives in the line of duty.Every day. It feels daunting. It feels overwhelming. It feels like there is little...

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Care for the Other

One of the things that I like about living where I do is that there are so many different kinds of people. It’s probably my favorite part of Doubt on Tap every Tuesday night, the diversity that surrounds the table. A number of years ago I would not have been able to sit around the table at Doubt on...

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Repentance is Freedom

I have been teaching through Luke during our worship gatherings. As I prepare each week I’m surprised by how often repentance is brought to the fore by Jesus.I shouldn’t be. But, I am.Why do you think that is? Why are we surprised by Jesus constant and consistent call to repentance?Could it be that we don’t really think that we need to repent? I know that’s true for me. You see, I was sold a bill...

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The Problem of Scale

Nearly every day I see posts about how other countries do things so much better than the United States. Whether it’s education, the environment, law enforcement, or just about anything else it seems that there is a country out there that does it better than the US. I started wondering why that was...

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Giving Is Always Offensive

We were working on moving from Canton, MI to Ypsilanti, MI and we were getting rid of stuff. I was amazed at how much stuff we had that we never used. Around the corner from our neighborhood was a Goodwill thrift store. We dropped our stuff off there, knowing it would be sold for pennies to people...

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Between Pain and Pain

I live in a city where black folk and white folk live together, work together, and play together. I see in the conversations and faces around me that the things that are happening in our world are not disembodied, it's not just out there. The pain is real. The fear is real. I live in a family...

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Overwhelmed By It All

Overwhelmed. That's how I often feel when I log into Facebook or read my Feedly. Every day there is an article about what the Church "should" be doing. Which means every single day there is another article about what I "should" be doing. We are supposed to be about social justice. We are supposed...

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Conversation Makes A Difference

On Tuesday nights I hang out with a group people for something called, Doubt on Tap. It's a great time each week talking about issues that are important. We discuss politics, religion, and current events. Basically all the stuff you don't talk about in polite company.This week we spent some time talking about issues of race. It was intense. It was so good though. People from all different backgrounds...

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Embrace Another's Suffering

One of the things that has struck me over the last week is how unwilling we are to embrace the suffering of another. A friend of mine, Tyler, wrote an amazing piece about race. He's taken a lot of heat. I've seen friends write things and I've heard friends say things about race that have a lack of empathy.Paul says,If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together....

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A Pastor's Response to Ferguson

Last night was the latest in our country's history of local violence and rioting. It is heartbreaking and it is devastating a town that was already filled with pain and heartache.Before I go further my cards need to be on the table. I am a white guy. I grew up in an area where there really weren't any minorities. My brother and the best man from my wedding are police officers. One of them serving...

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Be Real. No Don't.

"Be real.""Be authentic.""Share your heart."These are all pieces of advice people give to emerging Christian leaders. What they don't tell you, is that you should only do these things if being real and authentic are happy things. We don't want to hear about the hard stuff. That just doesn't fit with the myth of the "happy Christian life".Have you noticed that there are very few laments in popular...

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Sunday Scriptures: Grace Overflows

In Ephesians Chapter 1, St Paul writes;Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before...

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You Must Change

I'm a pastor in an evangelical denomination. That means that my denomination has stated that it wants to be about reaching people who are from God and helping them to enter into a relationship with him.I love that.I'm a pastor in a missional denomination. That means that my denomination has stated that it wants to intentionally move towards being where people who are from God live.I love that.To live...

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Be That Guy, Your Pastor Needs You

More and more studies are coming out about pastors and the realities of their calling. In my denomination there have been two pastoral suicides in the last 12 months. As you can imagine, this has raised some concerns in my wife's heart. We have conversations about my 'feelings' and such.Being a pastor is really hard. There's no two ways about it. Your life is given to others. You enter in with people's...

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Don't Whine. Do.

Yesterday I found myself feeling whiny.As a parent there are few things that drive me as crazy as whining. When the children begin to whine my mind begins to go away. It slips out unnoticed and it is difficult to find again.I began to ask myself why was I feeling this way?There were things that I didn't think I had power to influence. Things felt like they were out of my control. They are.However,...

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Millenials, Boomers, and Leadership

// ![CDATA[(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));// ]]>Post by Daniel M Ro...

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You Can't Handle It Alone

Yesterday I wrote about the reality that God does indeed give us more than we can handle. It is when he does that we learn faith. The thing is, there's more to it.Paul writes this in his first letter to the church at Corinth,The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker...

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You Can't Handle It

Christians want life to be easy. Many of us were sold a bill of goods when we "placed our faith in Christ". We were given a picture of the happy Christian life, a life of minimal pain and suffering.But, it turns out that the Christian lives in the same world as the non-Christian and life is still hard. We face pain, suffering, and hardships. Life is just as hard for the Christian as it is...

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The Need To Act

When I try to start new things I find it hard. It seems like new things are an interruption in my schedule. They don't seem to fit. New things are awkward.The simple reality is that when a new thing enters my world I need to act.I want to go to the gym regularly. By regularly, I mean, every day. My schedule is flexible, I have no excuse not to go to the gym every day. The only way to get to the gym...

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Projection

Projection is something that all of us do. Projection is something that all of us have experienced. It's when someone has something going on in their life and they feel powerless to deal with it. So they find an area where they feel they have some level of power and express anger or frustration.When projection happens it almost always feels out of left field.People project about all kinds of things....

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Then We

Yesterday was a fun day, we celebrated Amy's birthday. The celebration was an all day affair. My wife prefers quality time over gifts. So, we hung out as a family all day. As we were driving home my son said recounted all that we had done and concluded with, "That's a lot of 'then we's'".There is something special about the "then we".The "then we" is community in a phrase. It says so much with two...

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Gratitude From Humility

I was thinking about gratitude recently. It's something that we try really hard to teach our kids about. We want them to feel grateful for the many good things and even the hard things in their lives. It's an attitude that Amy and I try to model for them.Have you ever wondered where gratitude comes from?Are we grateful because we have good things? Are we grateful because we know that others are not...

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Parents Are the Top Influence

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Mystery Is Legit

Last night I sat at the pub with a few friends and people were discussing evolution (of all stripes) and intelligent design. It was a fascinating conversation.The thing that struck me is that nearly everyone, regardless of perspective, had an answer. The one thing that almost nobody wanted to settle for was mystery.Mystery.This is something that makes many of us uncomfortable. We want an answer...

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The Past Matters

One of the most important things that we can learn in life is that our past matters. It matters because God cares about us and is at work writing a story through our lives.This has been driven home, again, over the last week or so. As my friend and I have talked with one another he has said, "I am overwhelmed by how God has protected me and my family. I am so blessed to have not had to experience...

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I'm A Mess. So Are They!

Over the last year I have been keenly aware of what happens when I post something to Facebook. Now, I'm not talking about statistics of likes, clicks, and comments. I've been paying special attention to my emotional response and the emotional responses of others (based on their comments of course, really, it's the best I could do).The result of this?I stopped posting my opinions on things related...

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A Little Respect

When my daughter was born something fundamentally changed in me. I began seeing the world differently. As a young man I really didn't think very much about how women experienced the world. It was hard for me to think of women as someone's daughter or sister.Then my daughter was born.All of a sudden I began think about women differently. I became keenly aware that the women I would see on the street...

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One Step Too Far

Why is it that we tend to go one step too far? I'm particularly thinking about holiness and the Christian life (although I think this extends beyond that). We have a very good desire, to be holy, but it plays out so often as self-righteousness.For example, we want to keep our minds and hearts pure. Therefore, we set a rule, "no movies but G rated films". Or we want to encourage abstinence so we create...

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Small Hills

A friend of mine says, "Christians choose to die on small hills". I think he's right. We get bent out of shape over lots of things. Most of these things don't matter.Over the last few years I'm finding that there are fewer things that really matter. There are few things that I get angry over. Not many things get my blood boiling.I hope that this is the result of maturity and growing in grace....

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Transformation

If we're honest with ourselves one of the reasons that we don't participate or engage in "evangelism" or "discipleship" is because we don't think that transformation is possible. We have a "what's the point?" mentality. This person isn't going to change, so it doesn't matter.Incarnation –> Reputation –> Conversation –> Confrontation –> TransformationIt doesn't have to be that way though....

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It Takes a Community

The other day, I received an email that really got under my skin. I mean, it really bothered me a lot. It was one of those emails that for whatever reason just irked me.It felt personal.I took it personally.I was ready to respond with snark and sarcasm.Thankfully, I could process it out with Amy. She listened and reminded me that it was not personal. This was no vendetta to ruin my life (we are...

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When was the last time that you did something you didn't want to do? I'm not talking about for work. What I mean is when was the last time you stepped out in an act of service for someone else?I think that more of us do this than we realize. More of us act in selfless ways...

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Diversity In Unity

"Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."This is something that I love about following Jesus. We are not like the Borg where you have to assimilate. We're not like the Daleks or Cyber-men (I know I'm mixing Sci-fi references). The body of Christ is wonderful because it is full of diversity and unity.There are some things that the Church offers the world. This is one of...

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Notifications

Notifications on our phone are weird. They're really intrusive. I may be reading or praying and then all of a sudden, "ding, ding" and like Pavlov's dog I grab the phone.It might be really important. So I really need to check it.Then...Just a stupid cat video.A number of weeks ago I took a Facebook break. When I returned to Facebook, I turned off the notifications on my phone for the app. As a result,...

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Confrontation Brings Change

That morning I woke up with a pit in my stomach. A ball of acid that wouldn't go anywhere. The drive to the office was a bit foggy. When I arrived, I tried as hard as I could to just go through my usual routine. Then my lunch appointment arrived and over the course of that conversation everything changed. Confrontation is not always very much fun.I don't know anyone that likes confrontation. There...

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Simple Joy

Most Saturdays this fall have been quiet. It is typically a day to sleep in, rest, and recover. We have very rarely done much of anything on a Saturday.Quite simply Saturday has become a day of simple joy.Our family gets to eat three meals together, on Saturday.Our family gets to watch a movie together, on Saturday.Our family gets to play together, on Saturday.These are simple joys. There is nothing...

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Being A Pastor

I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and considering going into church ministry. The biggest question I had for our pastor was how did he get involved in people's lives? It appeared to me that he just hung out in his office all day.He didn't.I have been a pastor with an established, institutional, congregation and now with a congregation that is just beginning. The experiences are totally...

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Don't Feed the Troll

I am realizing that there are a few people who follow my Facebook feed that are trolls. No, they're not ugly looking people on the outside and they don't typically live under a bridge. They are much more insidious.It seems as though everything I post, there they are to say, "You're wrong" or "You're dumb". They do it in different ways, ways that get you riled up inside and all fiery and passionate.That's...

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I Stood Up

Very rarely do I find that there is something in the news that I need to take a stand on. A friend of mine has said that Christians like to die on small hills. I think for the most part he is right.The hard part is discovering which are small hills and which are the big hills.I have come to the conclusion that 99% of the hills that we see in our culture are really small. When you recognize that hill...

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Drama!

What is it about drama? Why is it that some people love it. Some people seem to pursue it. They chase after it like a dog chases a stick.I started thinking, maybe it is a contentment issue. Maybe people create drama for themselves because they are not or struggle to be content with their lives. The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4 that he has learned to be content in all things. He talks about...

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Art of the Conversation

I wrote a piece about conversation yesterday. Conversation is an art that I'm trying really hard to teach my children. It just isn't something we do very do often as a society.Too many people are simply too interested in themselves. They cannot quite get their mind around what it looks like to really care about somebody else. Conversation inherently teaches us to care about others.There is something...

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Have A Conversation, Be On Mission

When was the last time you had a real conversation with someone who is different from you? Most of the time our lives are filled with those who are just like us. Christians are called to be on mission. We are to be about proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus and we can not do that apart from conversation.Conversation is the third step of being on mission in this world. We begin by incarnating a space...

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Man, We Manipulate

There are some things in life you can't control. You can't control the weather, for example. The other thing you can't control is other people.But, we really want to.We really want to control others so we try to manipulate them through emotion. If that doesn't work, we try to do it through policy. But we really want to control them.Why? It's because we want something from them. We want to get their...

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Class and Character on Gameday

Class and character are hard things to learn. They are mostly caught and rarely taught. The thing about both of them is that you can tell when they're absent easier than when they are present.This past week at my son's football game he was taught class and character by his coaches. His team's coach in the face of adversity taught the boys character by not allowing them to make excuses. They were getting...

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Don't Look Behind The Curtain

Why does it seem the "biggest and best" are often times anything but? It seems like there is so much broken inside huge corporations.This is just as true for local congregations as it is in the secular world.I think at the heart of it is a lack of accountability. As it is said of Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men, "You don't get to his position without learning how to side step a few land mines."The...

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Why You Gotta Be So Rude?

There are many issues in our world today that have people up in arms. I swim in the Christian sub culture and when the sub culture gets angry, look out.Many of my friends post articles written by prominent pastors and bloggers. The tone of the articles are mean, sarcastic, and rude.What strikes me is that if I want to have a real conversation with someone I need to engage with them with some humility....

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Press On Through

I am growing in my realization that perseverance is not normal. In my old Campus Crusade for Christ days we called it "Dynamic Determination".It seems that few possess this ability. When things get hard they walk away. A bright new shiny opportunity gets laid before them and they're gone.Living in the context of a true community requires a doggedness of commitment to the people you're living with....

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Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy

There is nothing like friends. People who know you beyond the just the mask that you show the world.I am grateful to have a few friends like this in my life. My wife is obviously one. But, the ones that I am thinking of are a handful of men who really know me.There are a couple of older guys who are ahead of me in life. These guys are able to listen and give me insight into what's to come. They give...

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Be Known, Build A Reputation

When someone says your name, what comes to other people's minds? This is your reputation. Reputation is the second step of really living into a place. It is, in a sense, the legend of ourselves in our community.Incarnation –> Reputation –> Conversation –> Confrontation –> TransformationI remember a discussion that took place on Facebook a while back about "bi-vocational" ministry. One...

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Sunday Morning Rhythm

When we find rhythm in our lives it is so very joyful.Ever since we launched the Antioch Movement we have been gathering together on Sunday nights. This has created a Sunday morning rhythm in our home of restfulness. Quiet mornings and relaxation.We have found a rhythm where Sundays are Sabbath rest for us. We don't do very much but we are together.I remember something that a friend said many years...

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Let The Dog Out

One of the things that I love about being a pastor is that I get come alongside people and love well. Most of the time this is during times of pain and suffering. Every once in a while it's when something fun is happening.This weekend I get to let the dog out. One of the guys in our community took his wife on a surprise get away for the weekend. I get to let the dog out.As I drove over to their house...

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The Grass Is Always Greener

The grass is greener over there on that side of the fence!Faithfulness is really hard. We don't like to be faithful. It requires us to push through when there are obstacles. It is so much easier to walk away.The most beautiful of things that I get to see is when people choose to be faithful. Great opportunities come along every day. These cause us to take our eye off the ball and to look over the...

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Growth is Pain

I have one teen age son and a pre-teen daughter. The son is constantly growing these days. It seems that he wakes up in the morning an inch taller than when he went to bed.The thing about growing is that it hurts. Knees, elbows, hands, legs, arms, and feet all hurt. Growing is painful.I am not a gardener. However, to be good neighbors we had some landscaping done. To care for our plants we have to...

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The Need to Read

I am convinced that much theological debate would be ended if people were better readers.As a pastor I get everyone's questions about the Bible and theology. I love these questions and I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak into the lives of people.Then there are the people who want to debate theology. The problem is that, often, they "don't read so good." Reading well requires us to pick...

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The Fascination of the Unknown

Left Behind, the reboot, is coming. The poorly written books which were made into poorly done films are being rebooted by Nicolas Cage.A certain set of Christians are really excited.Why? Because we don't like the mundane, the normal, the every day. We want to live the life fantastic. The Bible teaches things like loving your neighbor and entering into the every day life of the community.That's so...

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Live Into The Place

Over the last year or so I have been returning every once in a while to something that Hugh Halter said at Exponential in 2013. He was talking about sharing our faith and being in the world. His concept was simple:Incarnation --> Reputation --> Conversation --> Confrontation --> TransformationThat's pretty straightforward stuff. Over the next few posts I am going to unpack each of these...

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