who does god have in the super bowl?

well here it is, sports fans, super bowl week. like many of you, i grow weary of the pseudo-christian rhetoric that pollutes the air around events of this type (like this and this), but i thank god for professional football players who exploit their platform to make much of jesus (insert tim tebow reference here). on the other hand, you [...]

strenuously pastoring against the grain

peterson goes into great detail describing his experience in “the company of pastors:” the name given to his accountability group (which, by the way, is still in existence after 42 years!) that had as its mission, “a place to form and nurture a pastoral identity that had theological and biblical integrity.” when one of “the company” [...]

pastoring subversively

did i mention that i am loving “the pastor” by eugene peterson?  here’s another little nugget: In the secularizing times in which I am living, God is not taken seriously.  God is peripheral. God is nice (or maybe not so nice) but not at the center.  When people want help with their parents or children [...]

  more cool stuff from eugene peterson’s memoir, “the pastor:” I found myself going to work every day in a church.  I was not just pastor.  I was pastor of a church, a congregation.  Pastor was not an autonomous vocation.  Pastor was not a vocation negotiated privately between me and God.  There was a third party–congregation.  As it [...]

modern-day pharisees

the world news section in this week’s issue of time magazine brings us an interesting story from israel: An altercation between an 8-year old schoolgirl and a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jews prompted a heated debate over Israel’s national identity.  The girl was spat upon and called a prostitute by a group of Haredim, or “God-fearing” believers, who deemed [...]

a political word

caucus. i like saying that word.  it makes me feel naughty.      

pastoring amidst cultural pollutants

following is my commentary (installment number two) on gene peterson’s memoir, “the pastor.”  i cannot begin to express how encouraged i am by peterson’s perspective. beyond gratified, he makes me feel vindicated…like there is someone out there who 1.) is certifiably smart, and 2.) endorses servant leadership. indulge me while i share a few lines: [...]

pastoring in the margins

my first post of the new year.  2012 has been great so far, but i’m ready for it to be over. oh well, only 363 days to go. i am current reading five books simultaneously.  it’s an irritating habit, but i can’t seem to help myself. i get a new book, read a few pages, [...]