There is a lot of talk about silence today.  And solitude.  And a tech-free, near-to-nature, God-voice-focused, Jesus-filled, near-hippy existence that all of us read about on our smartphones while hunched over our desks in our cubicles as we simultaneously slam our lunches and catch up on Facebook activity.

And I write that kind of stuff.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a sucker for some solitude in the woods with just me, my Bible, and a journal.  I would love to be a monk.

But you know what?  I think it’s about time we gave a shout-out to shout-outs.  And no, not the electronic social media-based kind of shout out.  I mean, to SHOUTING.  As in, NOISE.

Continue reading “In Celebration of Noise” →

This is the third post in a series called, “Making Sense of Sin”.  You can view Part 1 here or Part 2 here.

In my previous post, we established that a good and loving God can also be rightfully angry.  God’s anger towards evil discourages its spread and promises its eventual destruction.

In this post, we turn directly to the “sin question”:  Does God have a right to be angry about sin?

Continue reading “Sin: Challenging God’s Authority” →

This is the second blog in a series called: “Making Sense of Sin”.  You can view Part 1 here.

Before we begin to make sense of sin directly, we must first deal with the following, related question: Does God have the right to be angry?

Or, to state it another way: Can a good and loving God also be a God of wrath?  

Continue reading “Dealing with God’s Anger” →

I listen to a lot of preaching.  I’m kind of obsessed with it, actually.

Podcasts. Online sermons.  Visiting other churches.  Weddings.  Funerals.  Steve Jobs unveiling the next iPhone.

Wherever I can hear preaching, I tune in.

Through all of this listening, I’ve come to realize I usually respond with one of two distinct feelings.

Continue reading “Making Sense of Sin: Introduction” →

My wife and I are both introverts.  This means we can only handle people in small doses.  Too much time around others, and we begin to shut down.  Eye contact becomes painful.  Forcing a smile starts to feel like bench-pressing two times our weight.

So after the end of a long week, mine spent wrangling college students, her’s spent constantly entertaining a high-energy and extroverted two-year old, we prefer to just veg out.

Redbox. Takeout. The couch and a blanket.

Yes, please.

Continue reading “Your Home is Your Sanctuary: Redefined” →

I want to share a surprising observation with you: It is possible to share your faith and resist the Holy Spirit at the same time.

This should, initially, seem like a contradiction.  After all, the Spirit empowers followers of Jesus to share the good news of Jesus with others.  This is Evangelism 101.

Acts 1:8 says it pretty well:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.

There it is.  The Spirit of God and being witnesses to others, neatly tied together.

Because they are meant to go together, problems arise when we try to separate them.

Continue reading “Sharing Faith, Resisting the Spirit, and Laughter” →

This Advent season I’ve been drawn to a Christmas hymn I was previously unfamiliar with.  Since many Christmas songs can lose their punch due to being so familiar, I share these reflections in hope that you, also, can worship the Christ child as if it were your first time hearing of his birth.

The song is called “In the Bleak Midwinter”, and can be heard here and here.

Continue reading “Meditating on a Fresh Christmas Song” →