Homeward Bound

One of the experiences I have truly relished over the past several years has been preaching at the Mission in my local community. The leadership is a bit theological diverse, as are the preaching styles. When I first started helping there I was struck by the direct in your face mode. The rawness and the volume; it was all quite intense! Sure there was a bit of a disparagement of the formal, institutional churches; some Pentecostal strains. But there was fire in that pulpit. And for me, with my Biblical studies degree and my sermon manuscripts (one has to be sure every word is just right, after all), these were the exact people I needed to be around. I will never forget what my preaching friend Richard told me one time: "You can't give what you don't have." You cannot really preach the gospel if you have not bathed in it yourself. You cannot really tell of the love of Jesus if His love is something you have not felt. Which speaks to this rule that must undergird all of...

I have often thought growth in every form as a total gain. It’s obvious. Growth in wealth, growth in career, growth in platform and influence--no one questions that these things are good, and the best sellers lists only confirm that underlying assumption with revolving titles like Atomic Habits , Baby Steps Millionaires , The 5 AM Club . Our society is fascinated with the idea of getting bigger and better and smarter and more efficient. I had a mentor tell me once that we should strive to get as much responsibility as possible in order to do the most good as possible. For a young man with penchants for sloth and indolence, this was good advice--but I wonder if we ever take time to count the cost of our territorial expansion? I recently went to Sight and Sound theater in Lancaster, PA for my wife Montana's birthday. We saw "David" which did a quick biographical sketch of David's life from shepherd boy to King of Israel. One of the interesting things is how the play po...

One of the great things about living in 2022 is we can read, listen to, and follow the best. If you want to hear the best preachers around the world, you can go on youtube and listen to them for free. If you want to read the best theologians, you do not need to ship your family off to seminary to study under them. You can download their latest ebook on your amazon kindle. With wonderful websites like gutenberg.org you can access the greatest written works of all time and read them for free! Other sites like monergism.com have vaults of Christian writings that are time tested to be invaluable to your Christian walk. Though it is not without its problems, 2022 is an amazing time to be alive. With all this at our fingertips, there is a tendency for us to defer to the specialist. The industrial revolution brought about increased specialization through innovations like the division of labor. Workers were specifically trained and suited for their unique jobs, jobs that the now untrained, l...