Have you heard the terms “purpose” and “destiny” a few too many times? How about “vision” or “passion?” Chances are, you hang out in evangelical/Charismatic Christian circles. In our search for personal significance, in our rejection of the American Dream as the end-all, in our bible-based belief that God has specific plans for each of us, we can swing a little too far over – and land in the glamour ministry zone. Does God do big stuff through ordinary, committed Christians? You bet he does. Has he ordained good works for each of us to do from before the earth started spinning? Continue Reading
Burning Bright Without Burning Out
He was coming around a corner on the mountain path, bleating sheep following, when he stopped short and stared. How could a plant be on fire, yet not be swallowed up by the blaze? God used the burning bush to get Moses’ attention, but it also shows us the cure for the great malady of our time. In a culture addicted to busyness and an over-the-top work ethic, burn-out happens to far too many of us. God sets our hearts on fire with a holy flame that does not consume us. But this paradox breaks down when it comes to false gods. They will eat us alive, one nibble at a time. Anything and Continue Reading
Why You Should Waste Time
Does a fish notice the water? I suspect he lives and moves and breathes in it his whole existence, never thinking about what is surrounding him and flowing through him. Do we notice how culture affects us? Maybe not any more than the fish notices water. It’s easy to go back in time to Bible days and clearly see how the world’s influence seeped into the church. You Corinthians, get a grip! It’s not okay to sleep with your step-mom! You Galatians, don’t you get that it’s not about keeping the law? It’s a little harder to see how our own societal norms affect us continually. We live Continue Reading
Why I Envy Waterfowl
The sky is a pearly grey overcast, the lake a pewter sheen with tiny ripples from the breeze. A blackbird sings from the shore; two geese honk in the distance. Coots circle near the dock, occasionally disappearing and bobbing back up. I want to be like a coot. Not that I want to grow feathers and eat live fish; I want to live differently than what my culture – even my church culture – dictates. I want to live an upheld life. I did not have swim lessons in a pool with a licensed instructor until I was ten. The limited coaching I got before that was from my then-teenage uncles at a Continue Reading