We live in a society of instant. Easy. And cheap.
Category: Christian Living
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Feeling Weak and Scared? Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That
Be Strong and Courageous…
- for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. – Deuteronomy 31:6
- or you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. Deuteronomy 31:7
- for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you. Deuteronomy 31:23
- because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Joshua 1:6
- Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Joshua 1:7
- Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
- Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Joshua 1:18
- This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight. Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening. Joshua 10:25-26
- Do not be afraid or discouraged. 1 Chronicles 22:13
- and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. 1 Chronicles 28:20
- Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 2 Chronicles 32:7
Feeling Weak and Scared Today?
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Just Say Thank You
Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.I caught a lament on Rachel Blom’s Twitter feed last night, “One thing I dislike about ‘Christian culture’: you can’t really say you’re proud of an accomplishment without being accused of pride.”
I share the same lament.
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Finding an Identity in We
I’ve spent the past couple of days thinking about identity. When I think about the great division our country finds itself in I can’t help but think of the way our society sub-divides itself into millions of identities.
A Few of My Identities
- I identify in the youth ministry people.
- I identify with people with toddlers.
- I identify with married people in their 30s and 40s.
- I identify with people who like Notre Dame football.
- I identify with children of divorce.
- I identify with evangelicals.
- I identify with urbanites.
- I identify with WordPress developers.
- I identify with entrepreneurs and small business owners.
All of those identities talk to one another in a certain way. And, in one way or another, they build language and norms which communicate that you get it while others can’t possibly get it.
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First to stand up? Or first to punk out?
I read this yesterday on Love is an Orientation. It’s from Michael Kimpan, associate director of The Marin Foundation.
It made me think all day.
He shared the story of how the crowd at Wrigley turned on a fan, not because he was a Brewers fan, but because he had acne. As the crowd chanted “pizza face” with an increasing furor, Michael and Andrew knew they needed to do something. And they did. They got all indignant up in the holy hallowed halls of Wrigley Field. They stood up. And they acted. And they didn’t stop acting until something changed. And, to their bewilderment, the same people who once did nothing stopped them to thank them.
Michael wrapped it up with this thought:
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Three Memories from Coeur D’alene
I took my first trip to Idaho. (The list of states I’ve not been to is getting smaller and smaller.) Less than 24 hours total… it was like an appetizer for that beautiful state.
2 quick thoughts about the trip itself
- In my mind, Coeur D’alene was a lot closer to Seattle. But someone put a desert in the middle of Washington. They should do something about that.
- It was fun to hang with Lars Rood. We did a mini-roadie where we caught up on life, drank way too much coffee, and had a few middle school moments.
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The Thrill of the Landing
15 minutes ago Ryan McRae stuck the landing.I met Ryan a couple of years ago. We made fast friends.
Ryan’s problem was that he was stuck.
He had a good job, one that he was good at and paid him well enough. He had a community of friends, way more of a social life than I ever have had.
But he was haunted. It was a good life… but it wasn’t a great one. Incremental changes helped him but he just sensed he was on the wrong journey.
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Impracticality
Follow these five fast steps to spiritual growth.
Living for Jesus is as easy as this acronym: I.N.H.I.M.
My growth plan is Jesus 1-2-3.
This stuff is the scourge of evangelicalism. It drives me batty.
Any time someone tells you that the spiritual life is easy, its a formula, or that they can guarantee ____, feel free to slap them in the face.
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Do the hustle
From 1995 until 2002 I worked at BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois.
First, I ran a machine that printed ID cards for their 6 million members. Then, in 1997 at the age of 21, I was put in charge of managing 15 or so machine operators who ran the machines.
(more…)
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To Smell Like the Gospel
Last week, Kristen sent me a news story about Chris Baker. He’s a tattoo artist in Oswego, Illinois who does free cover-up tats for folks leaving gang life or women who have been trafficked.
Talk about Good News in the Neighborhood? I’ve never been in a gang and I’ve never been trafficked, so I have no idea what it like to have a tattoo which tells the world, “I belong to ____.”