One of the teachings that I do with leaders when I am in India and Haiti has to do with the pattern of Jesus’ life and ministry that we see in Matthew 4. It is not explicit, but you can see the pattern of Devotion-Intercession-Proclamation-Demonstration throughout the chapter: Matthew 4 Pattern of Jesus: Devotion… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Missional Living
Jesus’ Life As A Model for the Church: Harassed and Helpless Like Sheep Without A Shepherd
“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The… Continue Reading
Alabama Sororities Desegregate: The House of Racism Only Required a Push to Begin to Crack and Topple
It was all a house of cards, but no one knew it. What seemed to be impenetrable and just “how things were” was pushed on by a few sorority girls at the University of Alabama and the structure is now cracking and beginning to fall. How far will this go? How much introspection will take… Continue Reading
A Plea to Millennials from a GenXer
A couple of weeks ago, something of a dust up occurred after blogger Rachel Held Evans wrote a piece for CNN declaring that Millennials were leaving the church because of the vapid nature of Evangelical religious experience. I wrote a reply to that assertion and declared that there was actually a lot more to it… Continue Reading
James 1:27 – Orphans and Widows and Cutting Grass
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27 NASB) I was talking with a friend today and he was sharing about how he was working in his neighborhood with some of… Continue Reading
The Real Reason that Violent Crime Is Up in Montgomery
Violent Crime continues to rise in Montgomery. City leaders have decided to bring in the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office to form a panel with local law enforcement to try and figure out what is going on. While this is an admirable approach and I hope that they find some answers that they have… Continue Reading
The Mission of God Study Bible Webcast
Several years ago, I ran across The Mission of God by Christopher Wright and it, along with my seminary experience in San Francisco at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary changed my view of "missions" and what God is doing in the world. Wright says that we should see the Mission of God, or the Missio… Continue Reading
Review of Ed Stetzer’s The Subversive Kingdom
Back in 2009, I read something by Eugene Peterson in his book, The Contemplative Pastor, that really changed my perspective on pastoring. He called for the pastor, and by extension, all Christians, to consider a subversive approach to their ministry as agents of God's Kingdom. After explaining the frustration that he sometimes felt because his parishioners… Continue Reading
Marriage, Mission, and the Kingdom of God
I think that we often get Christian marriage all wrong and the result is devastating for both Christians and non-Christians. We hold up an ideal relationship of love and fulfillment and we give people strategies for how to go after it so they can be satisfied. Christians get married so they can share their life… Continue Reading
Having Different Thoughts About this Whole Chik-Fil-A Thing . . .
I love Chik-Fil-A. My family does too. If I am not in the right frame of mind, diet-wise, you will see CFA bags or a sweet tea cup in my car. The chicken sandwiches are amazing and the waffle fries are perfect and every once in a while, there is nothing better than a cookies… Continue Reading