When will this cursed economy ever recover? I certainly have my views on the economic and political causes of this prolonged recession, which has been the worst since the Great Depression. But whatever the causes, the effects of this economy have been devastating. 

• There has been prolonged joblessness and extended unemployment. This inability of even…

This Sunday I am speaking on "Passionately Sharing Jesus," which is part of our vision statement. We can "share Jesus," but what does it mean to "passionately" share Jesus?

Passionately sharing Jesus implies that there are other ways that Jesus can be shared. Jesus can be shared out of duty, out of obligation, or out of response to a command. These are not bad motivations. We have been commanded by Jesus to "go, make disciples" (Mt. 28:18-20). But is there…

Jesus is our model for everything, including serving others. Paul says that our attitude ought to be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who took the “very nature of a servant” (Phil. 2:5-8). Jesus lived a life of service, healing people, feeding the hungry, casting out demons, and more. 

In Matthew 20:24-28, in dealing with a selfish dispute with James and John…

As a minister, I have performed a number of weddings. And whenever marrying someone, we have to discuss what type of wedding vows they will make--traditional, an updated variation, or something they or someone else has written. All can be great (Becki and I had my older cousin and longtime minister help us write our vows). There is, however, something quite profound about the…

A couple of days ago, I wrote a blog post that highlighted some of Rodney Clapp's points about capitalism and the family in his book, Families at the Crossroads, and his chapter, "Advanced Capitalism & the Lost Art…

Before Jesus went to the cross he said to his disciples, he talked about the love that disciples ought to have for one another:

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:14-15; cf. 1 Thess. 4:9-10; 2 Thes. 1:3; Heb. 13:1; 1…

I n his excellent book, Families at the Crossroad, Rodney Clapp has a chapter entitled, "Advanced Capitalism & the Lost Art of Christian Family." Clapp points out that American families have, of course, benefited in…

I apologize to my readers for the lack of posts this week. I have had fever, a sinus infection, and bronchitis. Not fun.

Anyway, I wanted to write a bit about blessing others. The concept of blessing people in daily life is something that goes back to the Abrahamic covenant, where God blessed Abraham so that he could be a blessing to others (Gen. 12). This is…

"How are you?" 

"Busy."

That is the standard response for most of us. No one responds to this question and says, "Well, I'm not doing much of anything right now. I'm actually very unproductive." And we wear this busyness almost as a badge of honor. Kevn Vanhoozer et. al, authors of…