Categotry Archives: food for thought

by

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

1 comment

Categories: food for thought, General

Aaaand there’s another popular song title hijacked. 🙂

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to write a post about Chick-Fil-A (insinuated is more what I did)–and technically, this post isn’t about Chick-Fil-A, so I’m (sort of) keeping my word. Or my insinuation. Whatever.

But now that the uproar has died down a little bit, I feel like that whole ordeal showed us something about humanity in general–something that if we’re serious about living what we say we believe, and practicing what we preach, we should not overlook:

This is a preview of Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Read the full post (1346 words, estimated 5:23 mins reading time)

by

My Friend Chuck

6 comments

Categories: food for thought, lifetime heroes

Today, I’d like to tell you the story of my friend Chuck.

I first met Chuck at college in Tulsa, when I signed up to go on a summer music ministry trip overseas. There were sixteen of us on our team: ten vocalists, four in the rhythm section, our team leader (preacher) and the sound guy. Chuck was one of the vocalists, and I led the rhythm section from the keyboard.

This is a preview of My Friend Chuck. Read the full post (1640 words, estimated 6:34 mins reading time)

by

God the (Ultimate) Father

2 comments

Categories: food for thought

First things first–Happy Father’s Day to all the dads. 🙂

Actually, this morning is a good opportunity to me to ruminate on something that’s been going on in my head for awhile now. I’ve been thinking about the different ways God tries to describe Himself to us, and the word pictures He uses. Sometimes He describes Himself as a provider, other times a judge, sometimes an intercessor, sometimes a warrior, sometimes a lover/bridegroom, sometimes an advocate, sometimes a mother (one of the names for God, “El Shaddai,” literally means “the breasty one”).

This is a preview of God the (Ultimate) Father. Read the full post (1600 words, estimated 6:24 mins reading time)

by

Concerning Tim Tebow and Public Faith

2 comments

Categories: food for thought, Tags:

Unless you have nothing to do with American sports at all, or live under a rock, chances are you’ve heard the name “Tim Tebow” sometime in the past several months. Living in Denver, the home of the Broncos, we probably hear more about him than all y’all. He’s the young quarterback who replaced Kyle Orton this year in the middle of a losing season, and somehow ended up turning things around and taking the Broncos to the playoffs for the first time in years. People in Denver have been buzzing about this guy ever since the Broncos picked him up, and Tebow jerseys were common in the stores and on people’s torsos back when he was still a third string QB. It’s obvious that he’s still getting used to playing pro, and he’s young and inconsistent (as demonstrated by last weekend’s fiasco at the playoffs)–but it’s also obvious that the guy is extremely talented. At any rate, he’s injected a level of hope and enthusiasm into Bronco fans that hasn’t been felt for a long time.

This is a preview of Concerning Tim Tebow and Public Faith. Read the full post (1399 words, 1 image, estimated 5:36 mins reading time)

by

Fear Not

No comments yet

Categories: food for thought, General, Tags: ,

So the other day, The Director and I were talking, and somehow the conversation got onto the topic of fear, and the role that it plays in injustice. We began to observe how in so many cases, an injustice done to an individual or an entire people group happens because someone else was afraid. 

It’s uncanny, actually, if you think about it, how many times you can see the fear factor in injustice.

  • When a parent is overprotective and overly strict on a child, it is usually due to fear (either fear for the child’s safety, or fear of losing control).
This is a preview of Fear Not. Read the full post (1029 words, estimated 4:07 mins reading time)

by

Distorted Images of God part 5: Wrap-Up

No comments yet

Categories: food for thought, Tags: ,

Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.
Part 3 here.
Part 4 here.

This series of posts has been about the numerous ways our mental picture of God commonly gets distorted–how we see Him differently than who He is. I’d like to wrap up with a few closing thoughts, including some reflections on how I think God would actually like us to see Him.

This is a preview of Distorted Images of God part 5: Wrap-Up. Read the full post (1185 words, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

by

Distorted Images of God part 3: God the Angry Judge

1 comment

Categories: food for thought, Tags: ,

Read part 1 here.

Read part 2 here.

Surprisingly and ironically, after feeling a bit dry on this blog, since I started this series I have found I could go in about four different other directions. 🙂 But since I promised to continue this thread, I’m gonna write this one first, and save the others for later.

So…I’m continuing my ramblings on the ways we humans get distorted pictures in our minds of who God is, and what He is like. Today I’ll tackle another common one, which I call “God the Angry Judge.”

This is a preview of Distorted Images of God part 3: God the Angry Judge. Read the full post (1502 words, estimated 6:00 mins reading time)

by

The Confrontational Gospel?

2 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, religion, Tags: ,

Maybe I’ve blogged about this in one of the many earlier posts, but since I’m thinking about it this morning, I’ll just launch out and talk about it anyway.

When I was pastoring a house church in Tulsa, there was one pastor in town whom I knew briefly and tried to be friends with–but the truth was, we totally butted heads, from the first day we met. We were at someone’s house for a dinner party, and while chatting within the group, I related a story of how I’d recently seen one guy “witnessing” to another outside a Tulsa restaurant. The person doing the “witnessing” was quite literally thumping a Bible, talking very vehemently to the other guy with pointing fingers and everything.  I said nothing at the time, but at the dinner party I mentioned how I wished I could have gone to the victim (’cause that’s what he looked like) to apologize on behalf of my brother for improperly representing Christ to him.

This is a preview of The Confrontational Gospel?. Read the full post (1361 words, estimated 5:27 mins reading time)

by

Repairing the Church’s Reputation-Or Not

3 comments

Categories: food for thought, Tags: ,

So I was reading a blog post this morning on a blog I just discovered thanks to a friend. I had some mixed feelings about where the guy was going with his thoughts, but in particular I found his opening remarks very insightful. Here’s a snippet:

“Have you noticed all the Christians apologizing for the church? I have.  It’s kind of the thing to do.  We assume everyone out there has been hurt, wronged, isolated, burned or ostracized by the church.  It’s almost the battle cry of my generation. ‘We’ve been emotionally wounded by the church!’ Ever since Donald Miller made it popular, some Christians just can’t resist telling everyone what jerks we’ve all been.”

This is a preview of Repairing the Church’s Reputation-Or Not. Read the full post (1185 words, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

by

Experiential Faith (part 2)

No comments yet

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

Here’s the thing. If you’re going to get the full context for part 2, you’re going to have to read part 1.

In part 1, I rambled on about how I believe that faith in God must involve experiencing Him as well as believing in Him. In this post, I’d like to ramble some more, particularly talking about what experiential faith involves, what it might look like.

This is a preview of Experiential Faith (part 2). Read the full post (1303 words, 1 image, estimated 5:13 mins reading time)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 … 26 27