Rod Dreher is an often gloomy conservative blogger and author who believes that America is heading toward a time of "soft totalitarianism" where conservatives, especially religious conservatives, will be largely excluded from public life through the use of technology and social pressure. This coming totalitarianism is "soft" because while it may not result in outright…
W.A.L.K. to Move
All of us are born into the world as sinners, separated from God and under his wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). But God still moves toward us. He does not leave us in our sins, but instead, loves us and makes a way for us to be reconciled to himself. As the apostle Paul writes, "God is…
We Move Because God Moved First
When was the last time you entered a room and no one greeted you? It probably was not a great feeling. All of us want to be acknowledged. But even more than that, we want to be seen, to be truly known and cared for. And those who believe in Jesus Christ—his church—play a crucial…
Why Inviting Others to Church is So Important
People do not usually come to church because of a slick marketing campaign. Most people come to church because of a personal invitation. Becoming a congregation who invites others into the community to hear the word of God is, then, an important aspect of fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Now, you might be thinking,…
Productivity Glossary
Here is a glossary of typical productivity terms. The point is to be able to get clear on things in order to record, track, and execute work more effectively. "Task" - A task is a small action. It is usually something that can be accomplished relatively quickly. For example, a task would be sending an…
The Dark Knight Rises is the Movie We Need Right Now
Christopher Nolan's third installment in his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), is the movie that we all need to watch and embrace right now. Although it premiered a decade ago now at this point, it has a timely message for us in our culture. The movie opens with Batman in "retirement" because the…
Reflections on Challenge 2022
It’s been four years since I was able to bring our Youth Group to the EFCA’s national youth conference, Challenge. This year, nineteen of us flew from New Jersey to Kansas City a few days early to have an experience like no other. We heard amazing preaching, sung along with 3,000 other teenagers in worship,…
We Need a New Metaphor for Race Relations
Aaron Renn has an excellent episode on how metaphors shape the conversations we have around race in our country. He notes that we construct our lives around metaphors, and these metaphors in turn shape how we live our lives. Think of one common way of describing relationships: “Love is war.” How would it shape someone…
A Non-Anxious Presence
Why does everyone seem so anxious these days? And how can pastors lead their congregations through these anxious times. Those are the questions that Mark Sayers attempts to answer in his book, A Non-Anxious Presence. Sayers first digs into the sources of the pervasive anxiety that seems to sit over the whole culture, even the…
How I try to be productive (my productivity system)
My productivity system contains three components: capture, configure, and control. I want to make sure I fully capture all the tasks on my plate as well as the things that arise throughout the day (per David Allen’s Getting Things Done system). After capturing tasks, I want to configure all the tasks: process them to make…
Raising Lazarus 