Upcycling: Breathing Life Into the Old
My mum used to run workshops helping people upcycle goods, thereby turning “trash into treasure.” Long before Pinterest, mum understood that creativity and passion can provide a steady source of…
Householder: How God Cares for the World and the Workers In It
In the ancient world, a householder was something akin to a modern-day rancher. They owned massive amounts of land, herds, and crops. They employed dozens of families, with jobs and…
Hungarian Christians and Stewardship of the Planet
We are not the first Christians to recognize both the significance and the challenges for our stewardship of the planet. Hungarian Christians have acknowledged this in their celebration of Vizkereszt,…
Everywhere is Next Door
The church of the future will be full of global citizens, people who think less about their private corner of the world and more about our shared humanity. The “earth”…
Unfounded Ideas
I’m always nervous when I meet a Christian who has ideas about God I cannot find in scripture. Because there are lots of neat ideas about God out there—or gods,…
Pop Scripture
The church of the future will work to bring the scriptures into contact with more and more people in more and more meaningful ways. She will gamify our devotion and…
Guardrails
Some, of course, will let their Biblicism run rampant. They will enjoy arguing and debating far more than they enjoy applying the deeper truths behind the words on the page….
Then. Now. Next. is now available on Kindle
My most recent book, Then. Now. Next.: A biblical vision of the church, the kingdom, and the future, is now available on Amazon in Kindle format. Here’s some of what…
Reviving the Story of God
Every revival in history has begun with a fresh reading of scripture in the common parlance of the people. People hear the Word, they read the Word, they discover the…
Gospel Resonance in Halloween
Some of the holidays in our calendar do not—at first—appear spiritual, but once we recognize that God saturates every event into which he is welcomed, then everything becomes sanctified, sacralized,…
Learning From, and With, Other Believers
One of my favorite mentoring initiatives was the Westwinds Windternships designed and administrated by Del Belcher, our former campus pastor at the Hub, and Terri McGarry, our children’s pastor. This…
There’s Always a Few Weirdos
When we come to church we’re surrounded by people we don’t know and might not like. Some over-share. Some are touchy. Some are fidgety and harrumph during the sermon. Some…