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…

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…

Right now I’m reading Tim Blanning’s The Pursuit of Glory, a history of Europe in the early modern period. It covers a great many areas of life across a wide range of countries. For those who think of Europe as somehow one big culture, that’s not true now, and it was even less true back then. This is a period where modern nations are just starting to form, often by the will of one ruler who has enough power to start uniting the lands around him. Even once they were politically united, there was often a great difference from one region to the next, and from one city to the…

A few months ago, I heard that a childhood friend of mine passed away. His name was Andrew. I met Andrew through his dad, who was one of my leaders in Stockade at my church. For those of you who don’t know, Stockade was the 3rd-6th grade program from Boys’ Brigade, something like a Christian Boy Scouts. It was great time: singing loud songs, camping, playing in the gym, woodworking projects, a pinewood derby, and of course Bible verses, lessons in Christian character, etc. Perhaps I’ll reflect more on that another day. Andrew was half a year younger than me, and because of where his birthday fell, he had been…