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Take Heart
Last year I read through the whole Bible in one year for the first time. This year, I’m slowing down my pace again because of how important it is to meditate on what I read. And this morning I noticed something that I hadn’t before in Philippians, even though I just read it a month ago! It’s a lesson from the life of Paul. If you know any verse in Philippians 4, it is probably verse 13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” At first it may sound empowering, like God will help you accomplish your goals for the day, no matter how ambitious. But in…
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Wind
I was a songwriter before I made peace with poetry. Music made intuitive sense to me, but I had to be taught to see the beauty in poems. One of my favorite exercises in my creative writing class was when we listened to an instrumental together and were asked to write a poem inspired by what we heard. Here’s mine: “Wind”Wind, blow harderI dare you to knock me downI’ll clench my fists and faceYour locomotive forceI’ll step forward just to spite youStretch my arms and expose‘Do your worst,’ I sayI know in my heart that I’m stronger than youDon’t say you’re giving up now
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Why the Stage
If you’ve ever been to more than one church, you’re sure to notice that each one is different. Just like when you visit someone else’s home, you find there’s always something they do differently, no matter how much you otherwise have in common. For the past seven years, my family and I have attended a church that’s a little different than any other we’ve been to. It includes a strong emphasis on theater. Theater?! you say. Isn’t church for sermons? Worship music? Teaching? Prayer? Helping others? Sending missionaries? Yes. We do those things, too—not perfectly, of course, but we’re always working to get better. And some of those things might…
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New Adventures in Teaching
It’s been a year since my last post, and this was intentional. Last fall I poured all of my effort into doctoral studies once more, but after growing sufficiently disappointed with the school, I chose not to continue my studies there. It was a painful decision after putting so much work into returning. This year I have been taking time to lament that in silence, seek God’s wisdom and direction, and return to volunteering in the areas I had given up. Professionally, I have continued working part-time at my church and returned to adjuncting and course design work on the side. This fall, I had planned to resume writing and…
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Fix This
One of the biggest changes in my thinking this past year has to do with my philosophy of ministry. The change was building up slowly, but it didn’t truly confront me until listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Just about every episode related to my experience in ministry, but as someone far away from the action and the movements tied to it, affected as though by waves from a massive ship over a great distance. But I did feel convicted in one area: the desire to fix the church. You see, before I had even set my sights on ministry, I had the sense that the church…