July 2010
17 posts
Jul 28th
revisiting rules
Rules do not teach us how to live. They serve a valuable purpose—they define parameters, they keep our wandering and far-reaching brokenness in check.  But they do not teach us how to live. Life would be easier if there was some step-by-step manual of how do live. Imagine it: someone could make a fortune convincing people there was a plan about… …who to marry and how to...
Jul 27th
“God, joining together humans and God in the incarnate Word, becomes what we are...”
– Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement
Jul 22nd
Jul 21st
illuminated by another
If you were born a slave and raised a slave, what life would you know other than slavery? Would you understand life outside of the rhythms, rules, and suppressed freedom of slavery? How could you? If every day of life was slavery, from sun up to sun down, and if every person you knew only knew the same life—more than just your body and time would be enslaved. Your imagination would be...
Jul 20th
“We must let go of ourselves in such a manner that we can become a dwelling place...”
– Peter Rollins, How (Not) To Speak of God
Jul 19th
Jul 15th
Book of the Month: August
I posted it on Facebook and Twitter yesterday, but it’ll stay up a little longer here. In August I’m going to be reading Rich Christians in An Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider and tweeting/blogging about it, as well as welcoming feedback and conversation when available. Feel free to buy it and play along. If you’re going to order a cheap copy off of Amazon, I recommend buying it...
Jul 14th
“Why did the omnipotent and loving One not do something about the tsunami before...”
– Miroslav Volf, Against the Tide
Jul 13th
1 note
absurd is what remains
There’s something powerful about absurdity. Something impossible, unexpected, or unlikely. This, at its core, is the story of Abraham.  As such, it is the story of us. Think about it. An unfertile, childless, wandering Middle Eastern sheepherder named “Abram.” His name loosely translates into “father of many.” Which basically means that he was a walking...
Jul 12th
Jul 8th
“Prayer does not stop with “amen.” It rises to its feet and walks...”
– Scot McKnight, The Jesus Creed
Jul 7th
Jul 6th
“For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by...”
– excerpt from The So-Called Letter to Diognetus, 125 A.D.
Jul 5th
Jul 5th
The Birth of Two Kingdoms →
A must read for the weekend. 
Jul 2nd
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Less of sinful humanity, more of the Creator’s generous presence shining in the darkness. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, the audience interacts with Jesus’ view of reality. He’s painted a beautiful but haunting description of those who God is near to (the Beatitudes) and interacted with the formative power of the Torah’s commandments and misinterpretations.  ...
Jul 1st
June 2010
17 posts
Jun 29th
Jun 28th
Jun 25th
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Loving people towards wholeness because God is doing that very same thing with you. The 5th chapter of Matthew closes with a curious admonition from Jesus.  After quoting and then re-working various commandments from the Old Testament Law, Jesus quotes an aberration (likely a quote from a Rabbinical commentary) of the Law from Leviticus: “You have heard it said you shall love your...
Jun 24th
Jun 22nd
“The Kingdom is now here, now there…in every event of reconciliation,...”
– Kennon Callahan
Jun 21st
Jun 19th
Back On My Feet is Coming to Dallas-Ft Worth! →
Having read about this story in Runners World 2 years ago and fundracing for them at the Cowtown the past 2 years (including the 50k!), I’m stoked that Back On My Feet has decided to expand to the Dallas area in 2011. Here’s to hoping there’s a team based out of downtown D!
Jun 19th
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Creative, non-violent assertion of our God-given image. Theologians and thinkers have called it the Third Way. Not violence. Not passivity and submission to domination. But active, creative, non-violent assertion of your God given humanity and dignity in the face of oppression.  In Jesus’s great Sermon (see Matthew 5-7), he addresses the issues of retaliation. Moses had given the Jews...
Jun 17th
Jun 16th
“Like the disciplines of fidelity & charity, simplicity & generosity,...”
– Andy Crouch, Culture Making
Jun 15th
Jun 10th
“Remember that the basic act of salvation from God’s point of view is the...”
– Dallas Willard
Jun 4th
Jun 3rd
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Fidelity.   In a world of ever-increasing fragmentation, participation in the Kingdom of God is about growing in fidelity and consistency. Just as the Torah is the defining thesis in the reclamation project that was Israel, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was his manifesto on what this New Humanity looks like. In the 5th chapter of Matthew’s take on the sermon, Jesus shortly addresses...
Jun 2nd
Jun 2nd
Jun 1st
May 2010
29 posts
parenting!
Me: Do you want to watch TV?
Emery: No, let's jump in my room!
Me: Seriously?
Emery: It's going to be fun!
May 29th
May 28th
“There is an alternative both to being constricted by human rules and to having...”
– Miroslav Volf
May 28th
May 27th
“Perfect love is to love the one who made you unhappy…unhappiness is not to...”
– Søren Kierkegaard
May 27th
2 notes
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Denying instant gratification that whores our souls and rapes the image of God inside of us and others.    Sorry for the graphic language, but it sort of fits with the topic. In Matthew 5, Jesus is driving home the intent of the Law—to re-create people & a community that is the reflection of the love, grace, justice, and even holiness of God in the midst of Creation.  Why? To be light...
May 26th
May 25th
“It is difficult to keep a revolution of freedom and justice under way when there...”
– Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
May 24th
May 22nd
May 21st
May 20th
1 note
“What gets most of us through the tough times, as well as through everyday,...”
– Kennon Callahan
May 20th
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Humans affirming and even actively restoring the value of other humans.   After Jesus speaks to the Law/Torah/Prophets and re-ups their value in the Sermon on the Mount, he then proceeds to bring up and subsequently dismantle the commonly held views of some specifics of the Law: murder, adultery, retaliation, giving, etc.  In Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus is specifically taking on a command...
May 19th
“Audacious prayer, which perseveres unflinchingly and ceases not through fear, is...”
– Martin Luther. Luther taught that prayer should be living, powerful, strong, mighty, earnest, serious, troubled, passionate, vehement, fervent and ardent. Overwhelmed yet?
May 18th
May 17th
2 notes
“The centre of my responsibility is determined by the call of Jesus Christ which...”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics
May 14th