I can’t remember exactly when I first heard the song, but it was likely on a Sunday morning at Mars Hill Church in Orange County. Co-written by Dustin Kensrue and Stuart Townend, ‘Rejoice’ has been a song with a near-constant presence in the recent years of my life.
In this episode we continue our earlier podcast episode on communion, in the light of recent criticism of the broad position for which we generally advocated. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our earlier conversation was called “Is Virtual Communion Valid?” (posted on March 25th, 2020). You can check out that earlier episode here if you have not heard it already. In that discussion we talked through the...
Our new podcast episode is out! You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor, or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode we discuss the difficulty of doing church and being the church in the midst of the present Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). To what extent is virtual communion valid? Given the mandates around the world to practice social distancing, and in some sectors sheltering in place, what does the communion of...
The ideal church is like delicious, instant coffee. It doesn’t exist. Problems in church are not only realities, they are dead certainties given the fact that all churches unavoidably involve the inconvenience we dislike most — selfish people. We know from St. Paul’s letters that even the first churches were troubled by some serious problems. And before I go any further, let me acknowledge that there are limits to what kinds of shortcomings we should...
Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s Fruit of Lips is biblical theology done in the mode of T.S. Eliot. The Four Quartets is the only thing like it that I have read. The title comes from the promise in Isaiah 57.19, “I create the fruit of lips,” and its fulfillment in ecclesial life in Hebrews 13.15, “Through Jesus, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” The book is a...
What constitutes an unreached people group? Generally, it applies to a group, usually related to a geographical area, in which less than 2% of the population identify as Christian. Furthermore, it is where there is no local culture evangelizing to the rest of the culture. Being deaf is not geographically contained, but it is its own unique culture, and within that culture only 2% identify as Christian. If the church is supposed to spread the...
I left my Church this week, and it was the most painful and beautiful thing I have ever done. For many people, Church can be a great source of pain, for others, it is a building or a place to gather. For some, Church can be a crutch, a community that supports them. As for me, my Church has become my family. I don’t even know where to begin my story, as I feel like...
This past year, I had the privilege to attend the popular Drive Conference hosted by North Point Ministries. It was a time for my colleagues and I to travel and enjoy a wonderful time together. This was my first time in Atlanta, first time experiencing true southern hospitality, and first time experiencing the famous Waffle House. In a nutshell, the Drive Conference is basically North Point Community Church leaders sharing what they do week in...
I got married the day after Trump’s inauguration, and ironically, boarded a cruise ship to Mexico for an awesome honeymoon. I got back and was shocked to hear about everything that had happened in a week. What was even more shocking (sort of) was how much discord there was between Christians. Facebook itself looked like a war zone with many Right and Left leaning blog posts being lobbed at the other side. What was interesting,...
Many years ago when I was new to biblical faith and largely unaware of other belief systems outside of my own (or at least of the couple congregations I had attended), I met a co-worker who described himself as ‘Eastern Orthodox’. At the time I met him I had been a Christian for only a couple years. I was an Agnostic up until my twenties and I was inexperienced with various religions or versions of...
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