I have recently begun interacting with a new church plant seeking feedback on what they’re doing. It was a catalyst for me to consider what advice I’d give to people planting a church. Here’s what came out: It’s Christ’s church, and he is the builder. “I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18) “Unless the Lord
Book Review: A Simple Guide To Hearing God
I recently reviewed a good book from Felicity Dale. Shortly afterward she announced that she had just released a new ebook titled “A Simple Guide to Hearing God“. I’ve been encountering this subject since a friend gave me a copy of John Eldredge‘s book, “Walking With God“. In part because I liked “An Army of
Book Review: Celebration of Discipline
I’d heard about it years ago but I just finally got around to reading the classic book, “Celebration of Discipline”. I admit, I had been scared off by the title. “Discipline” sounds very challenging and no fun. We find discipline especially difficult in our culture which runs on us trying to fulfill our every desire
Thoughts on Emotions
It is common to misidentify the reason for feeling a certain way. We often think and/or feel that the source is something/someone that it is not. For example, you may get angry at someone for something silly, but the problem isn’t really them or what they did, it’s the fact that you’re tired. Emotional statements
The Beauty of Freedom in Love
One idea which I picked up from Dan Brennan I’ve just recently been thinking about. I recognize that in the romantic myth, and typically in our culture, the thinking is that a person will find one other person to be the object of all their love, and the primary if not sole source of all
Rethinking Friendships and “Romance”: Misc. Thoughts
I’ve said a lot about relationships here recently. I’m still trying to sort things out. If you haven’t seen it, you might look at the comments on my review of “Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions”. I came up with how I would have organized chapters, which was really just a way to help me sort out
Rethinking Friendships and “Romance”: Emotional Intimacy
One of the most difficult subjects which I’ve yet to make up my mind about is that of emotional intimacy. For example, many view emotional intimacy as something only for marriage, and engaging in emotional intimacy with someone other than one’s spouse is considered emotional adultery. In our culture, where marriage is based mostly on
Rethinking Friendships and “Romance”: Cross-gender Friendships and Communication
I’ve been thinking and writing through a lot here recently. I think there are two main issues I’m running into: the existence of “romantic” passion, and what to do with it when discussing singles. These are questions which I feel Dan doesn’t answer very well. Most people have sexual desire, which has the real potential
Real Men, Real Women
Recently I’ve been seeing more and more written in the broad category of gender issues (or maybe better described as gender identity), and specifically discussing men (Dan Brennan/Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions, Where Have The Good Men Gone?, Church For Men). This has got me doing quite a bit of thinking. In some areas, I have
Book Review: An Army of Ordinary People
I wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting into when I got this book. This was in part because I was unfamiliar with it’s author, Felicity Dale. However, it turns out that I loved it and am very thankful I got it. The book’s subtitle summarizes it pretty well: “Stories of real-life men and women