Category: Christian Living

  • The power of a compliment

    Tick tock. Tick tock. The deadline is looming. It’s a Tuesday afternoon and I have a big project due on Wednesday. My mind is completely overwhelmed with the details of writing copy, design layout, and the pressure to deliver this project in a way that exceeds expectations. I have 9 hours of work ahead to…

  • A terrestrial calling

    “You’re crazy enough to change the world.”  Those were prophetic words spoken to me by an elder who wasn’t happy with me. Trust me, he didn’t mean that as a compliment. He said that because I was royally screwing up his country club. His nice little church who loved their closed circle of friends and…

  • Hard work or working hard?

    We all work hard. I can’t think of the last time I met a pastor who was truly lazy. Instead, what I most often see, and what took me years to get past… I have a tendency to replace hard work with working hard. In other words, if I have some hard work to do…

  • Do I have a vision problem?

    visionless: it is my claim that this is the most attractive but most insidious yeast undermining religious communities. Vision has a devious way of focusing our attention outside of ourselves to some lofty external goal, rather than keeping ourselves committed to love and service in the community, then as a result beyond the immediate community…

  • The Hopeful Lean

    He leaned across the table and told me a secret in a hushed tone. “This neighbor loving neighbors thing. It really works. It’s incredible!” He then went on and talked about all the things that are going on in his neighborhood. Over the past months I’ve had several conversations that essentially went the same way. I…

  • Why are YOU here?

    “Next.” I walked up to the counter and handed the woman my passport and paperwork. She examined in closely, scanned my passport, and looked over my paperwork. 30 seconds go by. 60 seconds go by. She is still clicking on things on her computer. Tension builds. “Tell me why you coming to Canada.” “I’m speaking…

  • Overcome by Evil

    There’s a whole lot of saber rattling going on these days. Why? Because fear sells better than sex right now.  The stock market is up 80%+ since March 2009.There’s a whole lot of money being made while the media scares you with news of recession. Crime is at historic lows. But there’s a whole lot…

  • The 6th graders

    One week all 8 of my boys arrived in a mob. That never happened. Typically, they came in groups of one or two as their parents made their way to camp after church. That was my first indicator that this week would be different. Soon I learned their story. This group of 8 boys had…

  • I wish I was still a camper

    This week I’m celebrating the huge impact of Christian camping by asking a few of my friends to share stories and reflections of their life at camp. The following story is from Becky Daye. Becky and her husband Dave have been a part of our life forever. Kristen met Becky on the first day of…

  • Speaking of camp!

    Speaking of camp week, I’ve been speaking at a camp for a group of Lutheran youth workers near Edmonton this week. I’ve never been this far north! So that is cool. And it’s always great to hang with passionate people who want to wrestle through issues of extended adolescence, social media, and their implications on…