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.
Categories: food for thought
In my previous post in what is apparently going to be a series, 🙂 I rambled for awhile about the idea of leaving the institutional church structure, including some of my own story and reflecting on what I had actually left behind, and what I didn’t leave. So the next step on this stream-of-consciousness journey is to talk about why I left the institutional church.
Categories: church, food for thought
My good blogger friend Kathy wrote a very insightful post this week called “leaving church to save our souls.” It’s not often I find someone who not only “gets it” but expresses “it” so well–especially considering this came from a pastor. 🙂 (I’m so used to getting subtle guilt trips from pastors, but that’s another blog post.)
Anyway, this post did what it was meant to do–it got me thinking. I know this whole blog is basically about my journey out of institutional Christianity, so it might seem a bit redundant to do a post about “leaving.” 🙂 But as I progress on this journey of faith, I seem to gain more perspective and more of a vocabulary to express what I think and feel. So I felt a(nother) blog post processing these thoughts was in order.
Categories: faith, food for thought
Considering that the Super Bowl is next weekend–and especially considering that the Denver BRONCOS are playing in it–it’s a good time to have a football-themed post. 🙂
If you follow professional football at all, you recognize the names of the two people in the title of this post: Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning. The connection between them is that they are the previous and current quarterbacks for the Denver Broncos, which is of particular interest to me since I live here and have a front row seat to notice how each quarterback has been perceived in these parts. Another connection between them, one less obvious, is that both are men of faith–though they both have very different ways of expressing that faith, and interestingly, have seen different outcomes in their lives.
Categories: moments of truth
The film Chariots of Fire is one of those movies it seemed everyone wanted to see when it came out, but nowadays no one wants to admit it. 🙂 Not because it’s a bad movie (it won four Oscars, after all), but because it feels so slow and dated. Same with the synthesized soundtrack by Vangelis. It sold like a bazillion copies when it first came out, but now it carries a stigma not unlike when disco first went out of vogue.
Categories: Meanderings (look it up)
I checked up on this here blog this morning and realized I hadn’t blogged since Christmas. That’s not a huge span of time these days (I’ve been known to skip out for 2-3 weeks from time to time), but for some reason it seems a world away, even though the holidays are barely over. Seems like a lot has transpired since I’ve been away. Here are just a few things that have happened since Christmas:
1. This blog quietly turned six years old on December 30.
2. Thanks to a generous gift, I made some significant updates to my home studio to help with my music composition projects.
Categories: holidays, Meanderings (look it up)
One of the things about being a morning person and having no small children is that you wake up Christmas morning wondering what to do with yourself until everyone gets up. So here I sit blogging. 🙂
I think perhaps the best memory of this particular Christmas season happened a few weeks ago, when my family and I went to see a theatrical rendition of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. That is one of my all-time favorite Christmas stories, filled with meaning. I love the idea of keeping Christmas in your heart all the year. It was a well-done performance, cheesy at times, but our hearts welled up with the spirit of Christmas at the end.
Categories: Meanderings (look it up)
This morning, for some reason, I was thinking back to some of my earlier days in the church. Thinking about what a strong sense of vision I had, not just about my own ministry, but for the Church in general. Thinking about things I believed God was doing with His people, and things I actually prophesied were going to happen. And thinking about how much of it I got wrong.
Hang in there: this isn’t a post about being disillusioned. Just gaining perspective. Here’s an example.
Categories: Rantings, Things that Will Probably Get Me In Trouble
Can I be honest? (I’m going to anyway, so you might as well say yes.)
As much as I try to keep a good attitude about life in general, sometimes I still chafe at injustice.
I don’t like when injustice happens. I don’t like it when it happens to others, but especially not when it happens to me. (‘Cause like most humans, I’m selfish that way.) I understand the phrase “judge not,” and I understand that justice delayed is not justice denied. That’s what helps give me the grace to leave vengeance to the Lord, and to be (mostly) gracious when something unjust happens. I truly do believe that God is just, and He is fully capable of making sure everything settles out in the end.
Categories: food for thought
So this morning, Donald Miller’s blog featured a “Sunday Morning Sermon”–a short video in which author Anne Lamott talks about how she got sober. Her story isn’t so incredibly dramatic, but I find the words she uses to express herself to be captivating. Take a look below, and then I’ve got a question for you to think about with me:
So toward the end of the video clip, Anne Lamott mentions that she is a very “bad” Christian. For some reason, this statement stuck with me, and I began to mull it over in my mind. I began to wonder: what actually constitutes a “bad” Christian? What makes one person a good Christian, and one person a bad one? And why does Lamott think of herself as a bad Christian? What is the criteria?
For those who are following my personal journey…it’s time for a quick break from my usual ramblings to share a little bit of current personal news.
I mentioned several weeks ago that my family and I have been feeling like we are “on the verge” of something new with regard to our particular gifts. I also mentioned a couple of weeks ago in this post about timing that I was eyeballing a new opportunity, the details of which I was not ready to disclose. I’m now ready to share just a bit of it.