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Over the last few months I have committed to spending time at a particular coffee shop. As often as I can have appointments there, I do. If I need a place to study I head there. If I ever write a book, my guess is it will be written there. To be honest though, I really miss my office. I really enjoy going to an office where I have bookshelves (oh blessed bookshelves!) and a door and my chair. It also has a door that can be closed. In my office were great people who loved Jesus and I could go out there and just beRead More →

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Thursdays I spend time with many of the significant leaders of The Antioch Movement. I was driving home this past Thursday and rejoicing over the reality that I don’t feel alone. Yet, in that joy I remembered something I had written a couple of years ago and realized how much God has changed me. I am so grateful that he has brought me to a place where I am not hiding anymore. I am embracing openness and it is amazing. Here’s the post… Loneliness, according to Dan Allender in Leading With a Limp, is one of the things that any leader will bump into. He canRead More →

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This past weekend the Disney Channel showed all three of the Toy Story films. The most poignant moment in each movie for me is when the key character looks at his foot and sees Andy’s name scrawled there. It is the reminder that he needs of who he is and who he belongs to. A person’s identity is critical to his self understanding. It defines what he does and how he does it. It shapes everything about him. Who we understand ourselves to be is the answer to our fundamental question of why are we here. So who are you? Whose name is on the bottomRead More →

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I really enjoy sports. I like to play them and watch them. Recently the University of Michigan played for the college basketball national championship. They lost. I remember the last time they played for the national championship. They lost. My reaction to these two games are totally different. For many years when my teams would lose I would be angry. I mean, slap your momma angry. I would be in a funk for days. My emotions were completely caught up in the moment and the team and experience. Sports would arouse my affections. They captured my heart. A few years ago I began wrestling withRead More →

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I remember the day. It was a spring day and the sun was shining. I walked to the end of my driveway and opened the mailbox. In it was a yellow envelope that contained a book I didn’t order. The book you ask? Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I sat outside a small coffee shop near Illinois State University and read the book in about six hours. Over the next few days I read it again and again. Inside that book I discovered grace in a way I never had before. Blue Like Jazz, was for me, Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians or Packer’sRead More →

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In the previous post we looked at the necessity of rightly understanding our Christian identity. Now we must ask, what is our uniquely Christian identity? Many times when I think about Christian identity the image of a superhero pops into my mind. Almost all superheroes have secret identities. They go through their everyday lives as mild mannered citizens. Then when a problem occurs they break out of their “mild mannered citizen” appearance and turn into Superman, Spiderman, or Batman and save the day. Their friends always wonder where they went during the crisis. The thing is, this is a terrible image of Christian identity.  Superheroes are notRead More →

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The follower of Jesus is a strange person. He does not fit any place. Jesus told him to “be in the world, not of the world.” What does that even mean? Christians have been struggling with this concept ever since Jesus said it. Yesterday I spent some time with a group of men that I affectionately refer to as The Calvinistas. Our conversation turned to the topic of what it means to be in the world, what is our responsibility as an individual Christian? What about the church corporate? These are important questions because they go to the heart of our mission as followers ofRead More →