One of my favorite sound bites from Jesus is John 4.23. He uses this trippy phrase: the time is coming and is now here. Whenever I read that I slip out of exegesis mode and into sci-fi mode. Like—what? Coming and now here? Which is it? This phrase gives us the perfect way to think […]
What do you do when people don’t welcome you? When neighbors don’t want to be bothered? When you’re tired from caring? When nothing is working? When you meet resistance? Not all of our jobs or vocations make it easy to make friends. Imagine when your neighbors find out you’re the police chief, local judge, school […]
Very early in life we experience our limits. We learn what we can and what we cannot do. We make adjustments to live within our capacities and abilities. We learn to accept them. We master managing our strengths so we can live within our comfort zone. We don’t like stepping into situations that take us […]
Our core values shape and define our language and our narratives—how we talk about what matters most to us. This is why “outsiders” or visitors can discern so much about our true values in one visit to a new church. If your church says one of its core values is caring about the surrounding community […]
