Wayward Son

Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo. I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.

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The Show Must Go On (excerpt)

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Categories: food for thought

From my post on Communitas Collective:

I think the thing I miss the least about church-as-usual–especially as a staff member–is the pressure to perform, especially during service times. I learned–and I taught–that when it was time for our gathering, all our problems were tabled, all our personal issues were put to the side for the purpose of focusing on God. If we were having a hard time, or a bad day, all that had to go away for however long we were in the service. It was a sincere effort, really, not an attempt to be heartless…

Read the rest here.

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What Do We Do Now?

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

During a phone discussion I was part of last night with some fellow bloggers, some interesting observations were made that have me thinking some more this morning. (And I have to credit Pam for sparking most of this thought process.)

There is no doubt that there are at this point a huge number of people–likely numbering in the millions–who are making an exodus from the institutional forms of Christianity. Many have walked away hurt and wounded; some left simply disillusioned. Some have admittedly migrated away from the faith, but a huge portion actually feel their relationship with God has improved with their departure. Many of us–dare I say a significant majority?–left because we were looking for more, because somehow we felt that what the church was presenting could not be a complete or fair picture of all Jesus is, or what the faith is about.

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Sunday Meditation: Accurately Handling the Word of Truth

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Categories: Sunday meditations

I’m thinking at the moment about some words the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy:

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim: 3:16-17, NASB)

This is a preview of Sunday Meditation: Accurately Handling the Word of Truth. Read the full post (697 words, 1 image, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

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On Haiti, Pat Robertson, and What’s Important

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Categories: current issues

I don’t like to be provocative (believe it or not), so I hesistated more than once before posting this. But I now think that for whatever it’s worth, I need to speak up.

Like so many others, my heart has been breaking for the people of Haiti. Such a profound catastrophe–it’s hard to watch, but nearly impossible to look away from it. However, it has been awesome to see how many people are responding to their plight with compassion and generosity and prayer.

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It’s a Go-to-Them Thing

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

From some folks looking at our story from the outside, it might look like we’ve left the ministry.

If “ministry” means an institutional entity that operates like a business, or a set-apart occupation that only focuses on activities considered “spiritual” rather than “secular”…then yes, we’ve left that kind of ministry.

But in the various things The Wild One and I have been involved with in recent days, I have to say that the heart of ministry (that is, the urge to genuinely bring help and love to others) still beats strong in us. It’s like everything we do ends up having something to do with that, without our trying to make it so. It’s like breathing. And I think that is so cool.

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Christian is a Noun (excerpt)

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Categories: food for thought

From my latest post on Communitas Collective:

Checking Facebook is part of my morning routine (and afternoon routine, and evening…anyhow). And on Facebook this morning, one of my friends posted about some song running through his head, and someone responded to him, jokingly reprimanding him that the song going through his head was not “Christian music.”

Seeing this made me think of a day when I was hopelessly “safe” in the confines of the Christian culture, when all I would listen to was “Christian music.”

Read the rest here…

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The Bible Says

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Categories: food for thought

I can remember being a kid and having an acute case of the “why’s”. As in, “Why can’t I have hamburgers for dinner every night?” Or “Why do I have to go to bed now?” At times when my mom was too fatigued or hassled to answer another “why”, she would simply end the debate with, “Because I said so!” Meaning, “I am the Mom. You are the kid. I am the final authority on this matter, and I don’t have to explain it to you. Case closed.”

Not saying this is always bad. Just saying. (I’ve also practiced this technique frequently as a parent.)

This is a preview of The Bible Says. Read the full post (1047 words, 1 image, estimated 4:11 mins reading time)

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Reconnecting…

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Categories: Meanderings (look it up)

So after my rant a couple of months ago about people who say, “I’ve been busy lately” as a lame excuse for dropping the ball with their blog posting…here I am posting maybe twice a week at best. What utter hypocrisy of me. 🙂 (Except, of course, that post was intended as humor…for you people who have none.)

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The Parable of the Geese Who Wouldn’t Fly South

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Categories: food for thought, What the heck was THAT?

One thing I’ve observed in Denver with much interest: Canadian geese. Thousands of ’em. I thought geese were migratory birds, so I don’t really know why they are sticking around (unless this IS “south” for them), but they are all over the place. Watching their behavior has intrigued me, amused me, and inspired the following parable, based on actual things I’ve witnessed (although I’ve taken a couple of artistic liberties just to tell the story).

To quote the Master parable-teller: He who has ears to hear…let him hear! 🙂

This is a preview of The Parable of the Geese Who Wouldn’t Fly South. Read the full post (800 words, 2 images, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)

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Sunday Meditations: In All Our Ways

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Categories: food for thought, Sunday meditations

I’ve never been a fan of memorizing Scripture, but I have to admit that with all the passages I was required to memorize in Christian school, a lot of it stuck with me. My first month there, we had to learn Proverbs 3–the whole chapter. I can still remember huge portions of it, but especially this part:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3: 5-6, NASB)

Now, 30 years later…learning those verses was the easy part. Learning to live them–that’s the hard part.

This is a preview of Sunday Meditations: In All Our Ways. Read the full post (497 words, 1 image, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)
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