There’s a story from American folklore that Henry Ford, after launching the Model T, declared consumers could pick any color they wanted…so long as it was black. To me this sounds like the same approach Christian worship has taken. It comes in basically one color. There are two main versions: sing songs and listen to a preacher, or follow some …
This year has been an amazing awe and wonder springtime on America’s west coast. In California the spectacular blooming of the desert brought thousands of people out to relish the brilliant oranges, yellows and purples of the flowers whose seeds lie dormant, sometimes for years waiting for rain. In Oregon brilliant purple lupines waved their heads across the mountainsides and …
Is it possible to plant a church with a budget remarkably lower than normal? I’ve done it–twice. Before I share that story, a brief look at church planting in North America over the past 20 years. Church planting has entered contemporary church practice as an attractive and practical way to address decline. Globally, church planting in countries like China or …
We continue where we left off in my last post discussing Jeremiah 29, focusing particularly on God’s call to faithful presence in the places He sends us. It’s striking and, indeed, disturbing to realize that exile was God’s doing. Some would say God was punishing the Israelites for their lack of faith and obedience, that He was addressing their rebellion and …
Lately, I have been learning a lot about what it means for a community to be a healthy or “abundant” and the importance of community for personal and communal well-being (for this education I am indebted to John McKnight and Peter Block, namely their book The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods). How do you imagine an abundant, …