-
1 reason church leadership is out of order (and what to do about it)
I see you, pastor: pursuing the pastorate for a variety of reasons, commanding a stage, touting an epic power beard. I see you because, in many ways, I was you. So let me ask: have you gone through process? Sure, the issue is much older than you. Seventy years ago, any man with a grey flannel suit and a tie of regimental stripe could receive a pulpit. Several centuries ago, it was a man who could read Latin and, well, read. But, two thousand years ago when Jesus called the first pastor of his fledgling church, he led him through the process of becoming. Without it, insecurity, immaturity and ignorance…
-
Shadows and Light: The Human Condition
We constantly wrestle the discrepancies between our public and private lives, our longing for Truth and love of deception, our quest for justice and ongoing prejudice. All of us have shadows and light flickering across our souls, which effects every aspect of life, including the local church.
-
Scouting out the Leadership Gospel
Getting through the gauntlet of Girl Scouts outside the grocery store is a challenge for folks like me who don’t want to drop five bucks on some Lemon-Ups®. Candidly, I only spent a year with the Scouts and never became a top cookie seller. But don’t worry, I earned plenty of patches selling something else: the leadership gospel.
-
Pay attention to the man behind the curtain
For years I served faithfully in the warmth of Christian community. God’s Word was alive and his Spirit, active. Worship felt passionate and life seemed purposed. My relationship with God had grown exponentially, yet I was ignorant of being discipled to idolize an institution. Like many, I relied on the claims that real conflicts only exist out there, that in here is perpetual peace, that sameness brings safety, that blind loyalty to church leadership signifies true faith. Then, Toto tugged back that thick curtain to expose a withered man spinning knobs. I stood there clenching the burnt broomstick of everything I knew to be true and desperately wanting someone to…
-
Two Reasons Sexual Sins Dominate the Church
Every day another pedestaled pastor gets caught with their pants down. Some say it’s ironic that sex has become a central cause of turmoil in the church, considering the topic has historically been so taboo. But, this isn’t poetic justice. It’s grievous.
-
God so loves
“What is God’s primary desire for you, Amy Leigh?” he asked. My inner fourth grader worked to fill in the blank without the help of a word bank. I stumbled through something about being loved in biblical community, to which he responded, “Sure, God desires that for you, of course.” Just as I started to mentally scribble an A+ over his pop quiz, my Spiritual Director added, “But, what God primarily desires for you is to give himself to you…to give his own love…in himself…to you.” Interesting. God’s primary desire and my primary instinct are at odds: For he so loved, he gave. For I so earned, I received.
-
The Beckoning
It stirs unease. On bloodied knees again I plead the pieties that once appeased my gnawing need for guarantees. In clinging to these grainy things like safe routines, I flee true peace.
-
Abide
Like the day drawing to night— fearing death, finding life— give me the grace to move toward you when my instinct is to run, to evade the shyness that comes when perceived by pure Light. Teach me to abide. Like the branch in its vine— resting loose, resting tight— give me the grace to trust you. when my instinct is to doubt, to comply with deceptions that come as my faith is made sight. Teach me to abide. Draw me to the well, even when it seems dry. When I’m in the office with deadlines and demands or at the kitchen sink with soapy hands; when I’m in the mechanic’s…
-
An Invitation to the Middles of Life
-
Breathing Love’s Sting
It takes conviction to step out into a bitterly cold morning. With that first deep inhalation, icy oxygen pierces your lungs. To breathe at all invites a stinging pain, yet breath must be taken if life will continue. So it is when stepping beyond the warmly regulated interiors of prominent western evangelicalism—beyond the recycled air of moralism which is held at a stagnant temperature of churchism so that everyone comfortably conducts their volunteerism. Admittedly, the space once provided basic protection as we began our relationship with the Lord. Gradually, though, as our intimacy with him grew, we noticed the interior’s walls closing in and limiting movement. The curtains were often…
You May Also Like
Strength While Weak: Facing a Loved Ones Alzheimer’s
Racism: My Journey
On Suicide
