Searching For A Community of Strugglers

Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. (Paul the Apostle, Letter to the Galatians, 4:19, NLT)
This line from Paul has stayed with me for two days. It comes from a section of the Galatian [...]

Read Full Post »

Advent With Ted the Loser

This post is inspired by a FoxNews piece updating the situation of disgraced megachurch pastor Ted Haggard. Haggard was a major leader in evangelicalism until he was brought down by evidence of sexual sin and drug use.
Dear Ted,
May I call you Ted? Not “Pastor Ted,” “Reverend Haggard” or any other ministerial name.
You may not feel [...]

Read Full Post »

The One Who Draws Them All

I teach Bible at a Christian school, so I am something of an authority on how Christian teachers decorate classrooms.
I really don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say that what passes for Christianity in the art that most Christians surround themselves with has all the perception and Biblical depth of Thomas Kincaid meets [...]

Read Full Post »

Jesus Shaped Church

Jesus Shaped Church…
is simple.
skips the mortgage.
gives lots of money to good, responsible ministries that help people.
starts churches.
is centered around the Lord’s Table each time it gathers.

Read Full Post »

Learning From The Little: Who does Jesus Want You to See?

Luke 21:1-4 Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she [...]

Read Full Post »

Question: What does Jesus shaped leadership look like?

Dear Mr. Spencer:
I’m a big fan of both the website and the podcasts, and since you say you always welcome questions I’m going to take you up on that offer!
My question is how does pastoral leadership fit into a Jesus-shaped spirituality? Is the current system even necessary? (By which I mean, the churches that have [...]

Read Full Post »

Jesus says Cross the Line

One of my readers sent me two very interesting links. The first is on the phenomenon of “subcultural segregation,” especially of the politically like-minded, and the second is on a similar topic, but more applied to the overall quality of civic life in our culture.
Let me translate some of these ideas out a bit: For [...]

Read Full Post »

Finding Jesus At A.A.

This post is also appearing at Steve Brown, Etc’s “Guest Room Blog” this month. If you don’t subscribe to the SBE podcast, what’s wrong with you?
I’m finishing Susan Cheever’s biography of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson, My Name Is Bill. For those who enjoy distinctively American biography and the intersection between spirituality and cultural history, [...]

Read Full Post »

Stand Where I’m Standing/See What I See: A Review and Response to Louis Bouyer’s Critique of Protestantism

This is a three part post dealing with a classic Roman Catholic critique of evangelicalism followed by a missional defense of evangelicalism on my part.
If you haven’t read Bouyer, you will be at a bit of disadvantage. Same if you don’t know anything about Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church in Seattle.
In part I of [...]

Read Full Post »

Jesus and Justification (1)

A good place to begin with this subject is to get some idea of how the word translated as “justified” is used in the synoptic gospels.
The basic meaning of dikaioo is to announce and declare someone righteous, with the normal consequence of continuing to treat the subject as just, innocent or righteous in the [...]

Read Full Post »