Tag: Culture

  • Two San Diego State Universities: The Power of Winning

    Two San Diego State Universities: The Power of Winning

    I’m new to State. I moved into the College Area in 2008 and quickly adopted them. I’m not an alumni. I didn’t grow up in San Diego. They are just the school that’s near my house and I enjoy going to football and basketball games.

  • Start-up Mode, What We’re Learning

    “So, how is the start-up stuff going?” It’s a fair and caring question. I get it all the time. Several months ago Kristen and I felt God pulling for a big change. Long before we even knew exactly how it would play out… we knew it was time to go for it. You know, a…

  • Do we live on the same planet?

    Sometimes I’ll meet a person in ministry and think, “Do we live on the same planet?”  I’ve got a really solid core group of kids each Wednesday night– I think they have a chance at winning the Bible quizzing championship. Our high school students are very involved in the community. Each year we get together…

  • All Culture is God’s Culture

    See Nicholas Kristof’s post at his New York Times blog which spurred on these thoughts, John Stott and Christian Evangelicals. Feedback? If what I’m saying is true, how would this impact how you do ministry in and through your church?

  • The Godfather, Scene One

    Easily my favorite films. Right from the first scene you see that the world is controlled by two competing mores. First, the surface world where law & order seemingly rule in a land where everyone is equal. Second, the underworld which truly defines what law & order means for a certain class of people. This…

  • City People Really are Wired Differently

    In 2002, Kristen and I considered a position at a lovely church in rural Nebraska. The nearest large city was Lincoln some two hours away. The town was quaint and cute as a postcard. But as we dug into the realities of moving somewhere with one coffee shop, a small grocery store, a gas station,…

  • The Prince’s Posture

    He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John…

  • Place your bet

    A few months ago I went to Las Vegas with my father-in-law for 24 hours. There are at least 4 things hilarious with that statement, right? He was running a marathon and needed someone to drive with him from San Diego to Las Vegas and back. I went since it’d be nice to catch-up along…

  • iPhone, Your New Cigarettes

    The parallels between the iPhone in 2011 and cigarettes in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s are stunning. It’s iconic. It’s celebrated as the cool thing. It’s a status symbol. It’s celebrated in the media. It’s manufacturer is getting rich. There are cheap imitations. (Sorry Android users) It’s addicting, but not viewed as a serious…

  • Leave me alone

    Maybe I want to be in debt, eat crappy food, and watch endless hours of mind-numbing television? Has it ever crossed your mind that the reasons I do this are because I want to? And maybe, just maybe,  don’t want to be fixed? Maybe it’s not about addiction? Maybe it’s not some sort of freudian…