Few things bring a bigger smile to my face than someone experiencing the rush of a surprise encounter with the Divine…when out of the mundane monotony of spiritual striving, someone drinks and breathes and comes alive, swallowed by the uncontainable power of God’s living presence. …
Read MoreJust thinking
“Conventional wisdom,” I thought while in the shower, “isn’t.” Isn’t wisdom, I mean. And almost by definition. If just about everybody thinks it, if it’s conventional, then it probably isn’t wise. Otherwise the world would be a better place. I used to think the most …
Read MoreHow I celebrated MLK day
For years I’ve felt awkward, bordering on guilty, that I pastor a Quaker church and work on MLK day. It seems wrong on multiple levels, like we are turning our backs on our history of social reform. But it also feels kinda weird and selfish …
Read MoreTimely help
“It’s easy to say ‘Jesus is my Savior.’ But sometimes people’s approval is my functional Savior.” Bob Hyatt has been speaking to us at our Yearly Meeting’s pastors’ conference, and he’s been quite helpful to me. Last night, he kept reminding us the good news …
Read MoreLife focus reminder
He plucks the world out of our hearts, loosing the chains of attachment. And he hurls the world into our hearts, where we and he together carry it in infinitely tender love. For several years, these sentences greeted me from the door of my office …
Read MoreProphetic Imagination
I can’t decide between a soothing “aaaaaahhhhh” and a panicked “WHOA!” Several years ago, I read Marva Dawn’s “Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God.” That experience was really unlike anything I’d gone through before. The words were challenging, harsh, and they turned the world …
Read MoreWhat are pastors good for?
Eugene Peterson, in contradiction to my last post, is one of the best speakers you could find anywhere. He framed his speaking in the general session today around this question: What are pastors good for? He shared his early romantic and militaristic views of that. …
Read MoreDay 2, post 3 at NPC
I just got out of a seminar where I was out of place. It was helpful, though. Tim Conder was talking about bridges between established and emerging churches. The following question made me realize I wasn’t the target audience: “How many of you are senior …
Read MoreDay 1 at NPC
“Survival is underrated.” Brian McLaren, February 7, 2007 It’s ok to take care of ourselves, it’s ok to be a friend to ourselves, it’s ok to say no, it’s ok to have a life outside of ministry. Brian hammered these thoughts home today in many …
Read MoreQuote to ponder
“What I would wish for the so-called Counter culture…I would wish that rather than fancy itself ‘counter’ to the culture, its compassionate ideas would take root in the land and people, and begin to transform them both…I fear this breath of fresh air, this grass-roots …
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