Dietrich Bonhoeffer has, among others, been my teacher about what it looks like to keep the physical and spiritual realms connected in our life of discipleship. While living in New York because of fear of what Hilter’s Army would do to him and his challenge to their way of running the empire, he was convicted [...]

Most people don’t love any wedding video. They love their wedding videos. My teammate in ministry, David Rubio, pointed this out at our OC minister/staff retreat a few weeks back. We were discussing Donald Miller’s new book (which most of us had read prior) and the implications of what it would look like for Otter [...]

I’m doing a teaching on “risk” today at Otter Creek. I love how one Roman Catholic theologian captures the mission of the local church.
“A church which pitches its tents, without constantly looking for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling . . . We must play down our [...]

Love this image from N.T. Wright (Simply Christian, 39-40)
“One day, rummaging through a dusty old attic in a small Austrian town, a collector comes across a faded manuscript containing many pages of music. It is written for the piano. Curious, he takes it to a dealer. The dealer phones a friend, who appears half an [...]

The debate is all over the air-waves, literature, university campuses and coffee shops in America: Is Christianity (and religion in general) good for society?
Some thinkers say religion is dangerous. This group would include Christopher Hitchens (author of God is Not Great) and others who point out the tragedies and violence done in the name of [...]

When you get a chance, watch what Richland Hills Church did recently in their gathering time recently. What a powerful reminder that all of us have a story of life, death, and resurrection. I’m grateful that Churches of Christ have a church like Richland Hills which is willing to re-imagine and re-think the task of [...]

About five years ago, Mere Discipleship hit churches, bookstores, classrooms, and personal libraries all around the country. More than anything, this work (an appropriation of sorts of John Howard Yoder for evangelicals) prompted spirited discussion regarding religion, politics, the life of Jesus, and the role of church in society.
The second edition of MD is out. [...]