February 2012
4 posts
We’re not called to live lives of detached spirituality or serial do-goodery.
We’re called into the life of Jesus.
What does that look like, you ask? Sometimes pictures do more than words.
Lately I’ve been troubled by the misuse of the Bible, and perhaps more deeply the complete misunderstanding of its aim, purpose, and the conditions and opportunities from which it arose.
So this morning, while reading through today’s lectionary reading, I was looking at a small part of Hebrews and became overwhelmed by the amount of ways the passage could be abused if it wasn’t...
“In the events of his life, words, death, burial, & resurrection, Jesus...”
January 2012
8 posts
What It Means to be a Modern Evangelical →
I wrote this article for the PolicyMic online magazine. It’s brief and of course doesn’t answer every question about Evangelicalism, but I was excited to address some issues I saw plaguing the perceptions of Christians in the West.
The Villain, the Hero, the Victory →
I wanted to share, on this site, some of my teaching points from last night’s @PubNightDallas. I think there was some interesting traction with the victory of God and how it helps make sense of Jesus’ “good news” claim of the Kingdom of God.
the conquering of the evil within: a transformed...
Over the years, I’ve wrestled with what I believe to be a shallow understanding of sin, repentance, and forgiveness.
For a lot of us, those words are inherent with religious meaning that we don’t have to think twice about…
Sin means I’ve done something wrong and God’s not happy with me. Repentance means I should stop doing that something wrong and feel really,...
“Death, like a great ugly giant, would do its worst, and pour out its full weight...”
– Simply Jesus | NT Wright
Ideashare: How to Have a Missional Meal
This past Sunday night, we hosted a really fun event called “How to Have a Missional Meal.” Full disclosure, it was based on some of the concepts in Tim Chester’s A Meal With Jesus and a few videos from the Verge Network.
It was a 90 minute event that included a meal, teaching, conversation, dessert, and a challenge to leave and make a difference (including a gift to send...
Power & Kingdom: A Glimpse of What's to Come →
December 2011
2 posts
“If we only praise God in the favorable circumstances, or circumstances that work...”
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Daddy & Yenenesh. Help us bring this little girl home by clicking here.
November 2011
7 posts
“The citizens of the heavenly city were actively seeking the peace and good order...”
– David Bosch
One of the questions I’ve heard thrown about recently is:
Is the Good News truly, well, good?
Those who claim that Jesus is indeed King, that he has visibly and powerfully enacted the reign of God that will extend into eternity with transformation, the vanquishing of evil & destruction, and liberation from everything that distracts us from being pure, unadulterated citizens who are...
“Since we are all creatures of flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood, so...”
– Hebrews 3:14-15, The Voice translation
Can I get an amen?
Freedom is scary. It’s paralyzing.
Yes, we are no longer being controlled or manipulated…
But we now are no longer able to control or manipulate.
You see, the problem is that we want to be God.
We want to shape something in the image of the created, not the Creator, so that we can control & manipulate it. So we can play God without directly admitting it.
But ultimately, we want to be God.
This is a problem for lots of reasons, but I want to point out one:
We’ll never have the power to achieve what it is we ultimately want and...
“Our culture hero is not the artist or reformer, not the saint or scientist, but...”
– From “The Entrepreneurial Generation,” a fascinating NY Times article. I am, of course, wondering what this means for us as we minister to and with communities of Jesus followers in the midst of such a cultural shift.
October 2011
10 posts
the absence of contentment
I’ve by no means tried everything under the sun.
There are places I haven’t been, things I haven’t done, and conversations I haven’t had.
Bands I haven’t listened to, movies I haven’t watched, food I haven’t tasted, and people I’ve never met.
I won’t pretend to have even imagined some of the lifestyles I haven’t experienced, from...
How will you choose joy this week?
“When Jesus emerged from the tomb, justice, spirituality, relationships, and...”
– N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
Losing Our Way?
This morning, just after 5:45, I was strolling through the streets of downtown with an elderly, out-of-shape homeless man. He’s a good, thoughtful man who’s fallen on hard times but is committed to getting his life back on track.
Did I mention he’s debilitatingly overweight? A few weeks ago he couldn’t walk down the hall without feeling winded. This morning he walked at...
"How" to Read the Bible
A few weeks ago, I taught a series on how to read the Bible. Not “how to study Scripture,” but how to read the Story of God. How to actually engage with the Bible and it’s vision for life.
So a few thoughts before I set out 4 simple steps of a process… First is that we often read the Bible in self-serving ways. Our pitfalls are generated around our need to make the Bible...
“While the practices of Christian worship are best understood as the restoration...”
– James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom
Who would want in on that?
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. -Jesus
Imagine if you were a first century Israelite living in Roman-occupied Judea.
Your whole life you’ve seen criminals and traitors be led down the dirt road a hill, carrying the cross that they would soon be executed on.
You’ve been eagerly following a man named Jesus because you...
September 2011
9 posts
I fully believe that prayer is powerful.
In fact, I believe prayer gives us eyes to see the world.
Prayer shapes our vision, it prepares us to see.
If you don’t pray, what is giving you your eyes?
What is shaping the way you see the world?
I have some thoughts and hunches, but I’d rather you just reflect on it yourself.
What gives definition to what you see? What shapes what you...
read this book!
Yesterday I (finally!) finished Scot McKnight’s King Jesus Gospel. Full disclosure—because I think legally you have to disclose these things when reviewing something (even though I don’t know if that technically counts because I make zero revenue off this blog)—I got an advanced copy from the publisher to read and review.
I’ll try and sum it up very briefly but...
There is a deep, frustrating lie of all lies that often grabs me, shakes me, and refuses to let me go.
It whispers in my ears, keeps me awake at night, and holds my head under water.
It tells me that my identity—who I am, what I’m worth—is inextricably tied to my success.
It causes me to sleepwalk through life. Discombobulated, present but not really there, always stressed...
if I'm really honest...
For the past few weeks I’ve been teaching through a series on “How to Read the Bible,” and a few nights ago I was sitting in my home and found myself convicted.
If someone were to follow me around and ask “where does Petey find the words to life,” do you know what the answer would be?
I do.
And let me clarify that prior question. It could probably take the form...
“Contemplation means living what we read, not wasting any of it or hoarding any...”
– Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book
“The truth about discipleship is that it’s never hip and it’s never in style…it’s...”
– Mike Breen, “Why the Missional Movement Will Fail”
I love that he quotes Peterson here. Great article.
I remember sitting across from a young man a few years ago, a guy who had been raised in church and considered himself a Christian, who solemnly told me he didn’t need church anymore because he had yoga.
And he actually didn’t mean this in a spiritual sense, even though I’m sure some have made that argument.
He meant it in a communal sense.
He told me, quite abruptly, that...
“When we read the Bible, we are trying to stand in the story that calls all other...”
August 2011
15 posts
Father God,
You are wise, powerful, and consistent. You show yourself to be good and loving even when goodness and love are not reciprocated by and through your Creation.
Help us to find ourselves immersed in your love, walking in your ways, seeing what you see, becoming who you are.
May we be like Jesus to those around us.
To our spouses To our kids. To our co-workers. To our enemies.
...
“Print technology has put millions and millions of Bibles in our hands, but...”
– Eugene Peterson, Eat this Book
I’m amazed at how much of life boils down to control. Control and trust, and they’re really the same thing. Let me demonstrate:
When you believe you are in control, that you need control, that you having control is the best possible path for the (your) world, you are trusting that you know best. That you have a handle on things, that your ways would do the (your) world some good.
...
“We want to assert, for the church, politics that is both truthful and hopeful....”
– Hauerwas & Willimon, Resident Aliens
Anonymous asked: I want to ask about presdestination. Opinions on what this means seem to vary widely. What do you believe it means?
Anonymous asked: Petey - What does it look like to be "called to do something"? I've been really struggling with this lately. I can look back in my life and see God acting in my life or opening doors, but while I'm making an important decision I seem to be lost. I often pray about it, but I'm almost embarrassed to say that I don't know lead by God one way or another. I was wondering...
“It is not only the poor who hunger.
There is a hunger that all the treasures of...”
– Soren Kierkegaard
the people who refine us
Since the Christian faith is a way of life, it is inescapable that it’s linked with a group of people. You live that way of life in the midst of others. If Christianity is a way of life for you, and I hope that it is, then that way of life is centered in Christ-shaped community. This “community” is Christ-shaped in that it first and foremost values what Christ values—grace,...
Conversion: reclaiming a (perhaps) dirty word
Through the marvelous world of Twitter I stumbled upon this great summary by Scot McKnight of John Stott’s take on the word “conversion.”
Conversion is a word that, in our religious past, has been closely tied with another word we young adults tend to turn our noses up at: evangelism. It smacks of naivety, simple-mindedness, and brainwashing.
But I think...
Not really there.
This morning as I was driving home from running with Back On My Feet, I was noticing how many people were driving with one hand while looking at their phones in the other.
How do they do that? I mean, I know how I do it, I just don’t know how they do. Ya know?
It made me wonder if texting and driving at the same time was really possible. I mean when you’re texting, are you actually...