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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Destiny, Overdone (part 2: Traveling Light)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, My Story

In sharing some of my own story in my previous post, I shared how I grew up with a sort of “promise child” mentality, and how that caused me to have a warped view of destiny and calling. In this post, I’ll be talking about how God has adjusted my perspective. And forgive me in advance if I talk a lot about myself in this post; please know that I’m just processing some personal stuff, and letting you in on it. 🙂

After re-reading the last post, I can really see a need for a “part 2” (which I was going to do anyway). There really needs to be some clarification here. So let me start with that.

This is a preview of Destiny, Overdone (part 2: Traveling Light). Read the full post (1360 words, 2 images, estimated 5:26 mins reading time)

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Destiny, Overdone (part 1: "Promise Child")

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, My Story

For a combination of reasons I still don’t quite comprehend, probably going all the way back to the womb…I grew up with a “promise child” mentality. I have had an inflated sense of responsibility for as long as I can remember. I was a perpetual overachiever, was always considered the smartest kid in the class, had an acute sense of conscience bordering on torment, and showed an interest in spiritual things beyond my years. Also, my gift for music blossomed at an early age, which garnered me even more attention. And being an only child (read: my parents’ only shot at successful offspring) couldn’t have done anything but intensified the sense of expectation I felt. It seemed nearly every adult I connected with saw me as “special”, someone destined for some sort of greatness.

This is a preview of Destiny, Overdone (part 1: "Promise Child"). Read the full post (996 words, 1 image, estimated 3:59 mins reading time)

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A Sheepish Confession–The Real Reason I Don’t Cuss on This Blog

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Categories: moments of truth

Okay, time to get vulnerable.

My wife thinks sometimes I’m too vulnerable…but in this case I think it’s necessary.

It’s interesting how the smallest thing can unexpectedly make you see the truth about your own heart.

Yesterday I did a post about profanity and the use of euphemisms, which I humorously called “Christian cuss words.” The first commenter, Jim, responded with some serious yet thoughtful remarks–a bit of a surprise to me, considering the tongue-in-cheek nature of the post, but I appreciated his thoughts. In my reply to him, I made the following statement:

This is a preview of A Sheepish Confession–The Real Reason I Don’t Cuss on This Blog. Read the full post (499 words, 1 image, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

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So Now I’m All Oozy and Viral

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Categories: books, link love, TheOOZE

You know, looking at that title up there…I wonder if we’ve taken our computer/Internet terminology in the wrong direction. 🙂

I was contacted this past week by TheOOZE and invited to join their Viral Bloggers Network. As part of this project, I will occasionally be posting reviews of books of interest, and possibly getting to interview some of the authors from time to time.

I’ve taken a look at TheOOZE website, and it is an expansive site with lots of information and resources to encourage the emerging church. There is an emphasis on the arts, community, healthy discussion, and authentic Christ-following. I count it a privilege to contribute to the conversation through this blog.

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Permanent link to this post (116 words, 2 images, estimated 28 secs reading time)

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The Christianization of Cuss Words

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Categories: What the heck was THAT?

For those of you who read the Unwritten Rules of Blogging I posted last summer…apparently some of you have noticed that I myself have failed to keep Rule #7.

I say this because every so often, there seems to be a subtle effort on the part of some of my readers to get me to cuss on this blog.

The most recent example was a comment left on my Caveman post:

“…you blew it with the “heck” at the end. Sigh…showing you still have much to learn.”

This is a preview of The Christianization of Cuss Words. Read the full post (300 words, 2 images, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

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"Seven!"

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Categories: fun, What the heck was THAT?

So yesterday I had the rare opportunity to have lunch with some of the guys from the music ministry team I traveled with in college. Several of us stayed in (or in my case, moved back to) Tulsa, but we rarely see each other, at least not all at once. This weekend, our former team leader was in town and invited us all to lunch.

Most of us showed. Two were dweebs and didn’t make it.

This is a preview of "Seven!". Read the full post (539 words, 2 images, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

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Love…Never Fails

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Categories: "Love Is...", food for thought, love

The last day in February=the final post in the “Love Is…” series from 1 Cor. 13. Links to the previous posts below.

This phrase, “love never fails”, is one of the most well known in 1 Cor. 13, and so often quoted that the meaning can easily be lost in its catch-phrase status.

Taken simply for how it reads, it sounds like love is invincible, that love always wins, always triumphs, and always meets its objectives. “Love conquers all”. But what does that look like?

This is a preview of Love…Never Fails. Read the full post (656 words, 1 image, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)

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Love…thinketh no evil

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Categories: "Love Is...", food for thought, love

(Continuing the “Love Is…” series–previous links are below.)

This phrase in 1 Cor. 13:5 reads “[love] thinketh no evil” in the KJV, but other translations read things like “keeps no record of wrongs”, “does not take into account a wrong suffered”, and a few other variations.

Looking at the Strong’s definition for “thinketh” or “take into account”, it reads, “to take an inventory”. So I think probably the closest translation to the original meaning of the Greek phrase comes from the Young’s literal translation: “[love] doth not impute evil.” This reminds me of other passages of Scripture that tell us that God does not “impute” our sins against us. In other words, He does not store them up as some sort of grudge.

This is a preview of Love…thinketh no evil. Read the full post (1033 words, 1 image, estimated 4:08 mins reading time)
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