Category "Life With God"

go lower post

To Remember That Stooping & Serving Is Beautiful

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

I remember when I first heard about a pastor who had his own personal chef, chauffeur, and tailor. My mind was blown. Wow! Holy cow! So…. THIS is success. THIS is what arriving looks like. THIS is a thing of beauty and I want to get there some day too.

I thought: I need to build my platform so that I can be somebody important – someone others will serve.

Around that same time, I had read books like “Under Cover” and “God’s Armor Bearer” – books that emphasized how important it is to serve the “man of God” (the pastor or leader or top dog in your organization). The message was clear: we should aspire to carry his briefcase, his Bible, wash his car, mow his lawn, run his errands… you know, really serve the big guy.

There was another message too, and it was a motivating one. It went something like this… Read More

homeless ppl matter post

Homeless People Matter?

- - Life With God, Video

I have a confession to make: I don’t know much about homelessness.

The truth is, I can tell you a lot more about suburban, middle-class life – based on my own personal experience… things like where the closest Trader Joe’s is and how annoying Comcast is (did you hear the latest from Apple – how they’re going to offer web TV service this Fall?).

Do you need to know where to find an honest, reasonably-priced mechanic for your car? I can tell you about that.

Do you want an opinion on MOD Pizza? I definitely have one to share with you.

But when it comes to homelessness, I only “know” what I’ve heard… and that’s pretty much all a bunch of second-hand, questionable information. For example, I’ve heard about the guy who walked around the corner from the intersection where he’d been holding up a cardboard sign – and unlocked his Mercedes and drove off. And I’ve heard about how much money panhandlers make – “more than if they held down a real job.”

This second-hand information is sticky and makes an impression, but I wonder if it’s any more reliable than Anthony Crispino’s reporting on Saturday Night Live.

anthony crispino picture for post

Anthony Crispino is… Read More

big gulp title bar

The Skyway 7-11 & A Samaritan Well (People Matter Period)

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

 

People matter to God. Period.

That’s exactly what the life and death and resurrection of Jesus shows us.

For God so loved. He gave. Who does He love? The world. Everyone. All people.

When I was in 8th grade, I was going through a rough time. I’d started using drugs. I was struggling at school and at home with my family.

There was a youth leader at my church named Troy Jones. He went out of his way for me. Once a week, he picked me and my friend Pat up from school.
He bought us Big Gulps at the 7-11 in Skyway. Then we went to the… Read More

single lane scottish roads

A Lesson From Single-Lane Scottish Roads & Stanley Hauerwas On Community

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

note: pictured above – a single-lane road on the Isle of Mull

Two of my favorite authors – Jean Vanier and Stanley Hauerwas – collaborated on a book together: Living Gently in a Violent World—The Prophetic Witness of Weakness. While talking about the need for community, Hauerwas says…

I love the Isle of Mull in Scotland—for one, it is beautiful. But I also love the roads on Mull. They are all… Read More

STONE CATCHER

Stone Catchers

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

Bryan Stevenson is a human rights lawyer and author – his book Just Mercy is a NY Times Bestseller. The following is from a 2012 interview with Chris Hedges for Smithsonian Magazine:

bryan stevenson post

Stevenson turns frequently to the Bible. He quotes to me from the Gospel of John, where Jesus says of the woman who committed adultery: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

He tells me an elderly black woman once called him a “stone catcher.”

“There is no such thing as being a Christian and… Read More

book release post

About That Book

- - Life With God, Popular, Uncategorized

This past weekend my friends threw a book release party for me. It was fun and full of surprises. I was interviewed about the book, my mom read a selection, and so did I. Everything was perfect – the music, the food, and the decorations. Such a great night!

And the people there were amazing.

I wanted to share just a little bit of the behind the scenes on the… Read More

MLK ON SEGREGATION IN CHURCH

Yes. This Is Still An Issue Today. (Segregation In The Church)

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

The headline of an article I read last week shocked me. It announced:

Sunday Morning in America Still Segregated – and That’s OK With Worshipers

It was the findings of a study conducted by LifeWay Research – and here’s what they had to say…

  • Sunday morning remains one of the most segregated hours in American life, with more than 8 in 10 congregations  (86%) made up of one predominant racial group. And most worshipers like it that way.
  • Two-thirds of American churchgoers (67 percent) say their church has done enough to become racially diverse. Less than half think their church should become more diverse.
  • Researchers also found churchgoers who oppose more diversity do so with gusto. A third (33 percent) strongly disagree… Read More
sunday shout outs MLK

Racism & Reconciliation In The Church

- - Guest Posts, Life With God, Uncategorized

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day – and with that theme in mind, here are two posts I think are worth your time…

 

christena cleveland 2015 post

This post, Everything I Know About Racism I Learned in the Church by Christena Cleveland. The opening paragraph reveals one of Christena’s earliest memories of church:

Exasperated, she yelled at the top of her lungs, “Get in here, niggers!!” Being six and all, I had no idea what the word nigger meant; I just knew that it referred to me and… Read More