December 2010
8 posts
Understanding Legacy
As mentioned in earlier posts, in December I attended a conference at Willow Creek Church in Chicago, IL. In a session with Gordon Macdonald we were encouraged to think about our lives in the range of 5 generations rather than just focussing on yourself today.
Whether we like it or not, we have inherited a family legacy and will be leaving a legacy. Our grandparents strongly impacted our...
Christianity Is Good For The World
I get a little tired of the New Atheism critiquing Christianity’s adverse affect on the world.
I’m going to post this quote from secular writer Matthew Parris in his article “As An Atheist, I Truly Believe Africa Needs God.”
“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa.”
Parris admits...
Christmas According To Lewis
C.S. Lewis said somewhere, “We read to know we’re not alone.” I read Lewis to know I’m not alone and to be reminded that I’m not smart. I was about to get all worked up and blog about the sillyness of the craziness of Christmas shopping when I read this essay from “God In The Dock.”
C.S. Lewis loved Christmas, but not the mess we made of it. Lewis...
Are You A Wimpy Theologian?
I was recently at a retreat helping some Alliance pastors get ordained (or the more crass, “Get Their Rev. On!”). During one of our discussions, one of our pastors shared about a recent death in his community that required a great deal of pastoral counseling, teaching and helping people work through this great loss.
Specifically, the issue that needed to be addressed was the very...
Examine Yourselves
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
This passage from 2 Corinthians 13:5 jumped out at me today and has been the cause of some serious reflection (the text itself calls for a time of introspection). I see two things happening here:
1. Testing Of Faith
Test yourself to see if you...
Only Jesus...Then Leadership (If Applicable)
Chris and I were lamenting of our true heart’s depravity when it comes to understanding why we are in leadership, especially at Willow Creek conference on leadership (he has approved that I lump him in with my personal depravity here).
Realizing that we were unqualified and unfit to lead anyone even to the washroom, these words from Philip P. Bliss in 1875 came to mind. Read them slowly,
...