I just recently discovered the amazing surf photography of Clark Little as he captured the wavebreaks on Hawaii’s North Shore and elsewhere. This is really incredible stuff and it has moved my soul like few things in recent days. You really need to take a look at this. Little goes into the waves to… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Worship and Prayer
My Iona Overrun by the Mist
My Iona Overrun by the Mist The power of place. Time. Sight. Smell. Music. A cool breeze on your face. The sun. The water. Mountains. Crisp air. Wrestling with God and yourself and others and the implications of it all. Ancient theology. Modern application. Figuring out how life works. A City. Strange cultures, ideas, languages,… Continue Reading
While Some Churches Cancel Christmas Sunday Services, Christ Remains a Scandal
Christmas Day is on a Sunday this year, and just like in 2005, we hearing about churches cancelling their Sunday services because it is Christmas and they want to free people up to be with their families. I understand that the secular version of Christmas is about family and friends and gift giving and what… Continue Reading
The Apology of Aristides, Fasting, and the Lifestyles of Early Christians
At LIFE Group this past Friday night, we were sitting outside by the fire and talking about prayer and fasting and how the discipline of fasting has a two-fold objective, which is to put away distractions and dependencies to bring us to God and then to give ourselves away to others. Gabe Posey, a member… Continue Reading
The Church We Need, Not the Church We Want
I was talking with a friend of mine about the church the other day and he mentioned how much he had grown to love the church. He said that there were certain people that he and his wife connected with that were really helping them grow and that they really enjoyed spending time with. He… Continue Reading
Overcoming the “God as a Means to an End” Idolatry Through Prayer
This morning, I was reading Psalm 73 and it affected me greatly. It says that God is good, but the Psalmist lost his vision of that because he began to focus on the arrogant and wicked and how they seemed to prosper even though they didn't follow God. Why was this? Why did wicked, prideful people… Continue Reading
India, Space, and Cruciform Worship
I took a deep breath, stepped off of the plane, and began the journey into mystical India. After traversing oceans and continents, it was time for my return to this far off land. The Indira Ghandi Airport is much improved and the long walk to immigration and baggage claim helped orient me to my new… Continue Reading
The Implications of “Jesus Is King”
I found a very interesting article today by Michael F. Bird called Counter Imperial Gospel: Only One King. It makes the point that during the early Roman Empire, the claims of "Jesus Is Lord" ran right up against the claim that "Caesar Is Lord" and it was very controversial and subversive. It is a short… Continue Reading
The Argument From Desire (Matt Jordan)
On Wednesday at Gateway, Dr. Matt Jordan, philosophy professor at Auburn University – Montgomery and part of the fellowship at Gateway Baptist, will be teaching on a concept popularized by C.S. Lewis called The Argument from Desire. He sent me his notes today and I wanted to reproduce them here. I think that the intuitive argument… Continue Reading
Eugene Peterson on Why We Worship Together
For many in the church today, worship has become entertainment – just one other thing to consume (or not) as we live in the land of endless variety. We have forgotten how to enter the presence of God. We talk about how awesome the praise band was, how good the choir sounded – or, we… Continue Reading