After writing Dig That Trench, I was asked to write a bit more about the need for discipleship and especially the need for a multi-generational approach. We need to begin first by stating the problem or giving context for the current state of discipleship.Over much of human history the family unit was not "nuclear" (mom, dad, 2.5 kids) it was extended. Extended families lived near one another. Typically,...
Monday, April 28, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Dig That Trench
When I joined the staff of Grace Chapel one of the first things I was told was that I would be leading a summer mission trip for the youth of the church. This was not a very exciting prospect for me. I don't really like mission trips. Especially not the kind of mission trips that youth ministries typically participate in, like building stuff or cleaning stuff. Nevertheless, we put together a trip...
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Theology of the Church
Most Tuesdays around lunch time you can find me sitting around a table with a solid group of men discussing theology. We read some heavy hitters in the theological realm, men and women who are deeply challenging. Every six months or so we pick a new topic; I want us to find thought-provoking theology about the Church itself.I have come to a conclusion: it doesn't exist.Books about the Church are typically...
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Movement? Not A Church?
It seems one of the questions I answer most often about the church planting movement we are launching in Ypsilanti is about the name. We call our community a movement and not a church. Why? The reason is simple, the Church is much broader than our local incarnation of the body of Christ and the Church, when it is truly being the Church, is a movement.What is a movement you ask? A movement is organic,...
Monday, April 21, 2014
The Morning After
It's a funny thing, preaching. Sometimes you hit a home run. Your words and phrases and everything are perfect. Your delivery is flawless. You leave the pulpit feeling like you really accomplished something. Then you find out nobody else felt the same way. There are other times when you feel like you flied out to first base on a 3-0 pitch. Afterwards you're almost despondent and then you find out...
Friday, April 18, 2014
It's Friday
Today's the day.It's unique.It's Friday.We call it "Good". But in the moment, it was anything but good. A mother weeping for her son. Friends weeping over their friend. Fear filling them all.The sacrifice was real. It hurt. It was costly.Friday.The King is caught.The King is crucified.The King is dead.The Enemy has won.Hasn't he?&nb...
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Who You Are Is What You Do
My friend Michael R. Jones got me hooked on a television show called, Justified. It's the story a US Marshal in Eastern Kentucky. In a recent episode that I enjoyed one of he characters kept saying, "Hey man, who we are makes us do what we do."Have you ever thought about that?Growing up our family owned a car dealership. When I went to work there I was told, "Your name is on the building, this means...
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Tell Him About It...
Hotel pools are great for kids. They're warm, they're loud, and they have a pool. Hotel pools are brutal for adults. They're warm, they're loud, and they have a pool.As my brother Jay and I were sitting next to the pool, with a couple of his friends, it came out that I was a pastor. Jay said, "Don't...
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Day It Felt Like Church
It was sunny and the birds were singing. The clouds were nothing but wisps in the sky. As I walked into the Corner Brewery for my favorite pint I bumped into a couple in line. As the husband, a rather imposing fellow, was working on ordering their beer, the wife and I talked about the weather.They got kicked out, because the wife didn't have her license.As my friend, Todd, and I sat on the patio sipping...
Monday, April 7, 2014
Be Church...
Previously, I wrote about my great frustration with the term "do church". So, if we don't use that term what should we use instead?It all depends on what we're speaking of. If we want to talk about the corporate act of worship then let's say, "worship gathering". If we're talking about the people of God, then let's say, "church".Why the distinction?One reason is that language helps to shape culture....
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Do Church?
When it comes to talking about the Church, fewer things that bother me more than the phrase, "Do Church". Typically it's in the context of the question, "How do you do church?" Also, "When do you do church?"Why does this phrase bother me so much? It's because it betrays a lack of understanding what the church is. When someone says "do church" they thing of the church as something that is fundamentally...
Friday, April 4, 2014
Synchroblog...huh?
On April 8th I'll be participating in a synchroblog. You don't know what a synchroblog is? Basically, it's an online conference through blogging. A number of people write about a given topic. They link to and comment on one another's blog posts on a particular day. The idea is to drive some significant conversation about a particular topic. The topic for this synchroblog is, "Share a story about one...
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Just Stop, Again
Two films released this week have created quite a buzz in my little world, Noah and God's Not Dead. It's fascinating to watch the way folks approach these films, depending on where they come from in their worldview. I have friends who declare the greatness of one and stupidity of the other. Others...
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Death Has Lost Its Sting
Over the last 48 hours some of the dearest people in my life have experienced death and pain. Their hearts are hurting. Death has a way about it that brings things into focus. It forces us to stop and look at what we believe.What has struck me about both of my friends is that their response to the pain has been one of moving towards Jesus. There is a recognition of grief, a crying out in heartbreak,...