Caught in the Draft: Grace and the Chosen People

May 2, 2015 4:27 pm

My worst moment growing up? It happened regularly in fact, almost every summer afternoon: picking teams for a sandlot baseball game. You know what I mean. Forget being the captain making the choices, you just wanted to make sure you weren’t the last one selected for a team. There you stand, glove in hand, looking down at the ground like your dog just died and hoping your name will be the next one called instead of the the last one. In my dreams, I was the number one pick in the NFL Draft, or sank the winning basket for IU... Read this post

Hey Christ Community Church, Just Who Do You Think You Are?

May 2, 2015 4:46 am

Hey Christ Community Church, Just Who Do You Think You Are?   I was once asked by a person what kind of church I attended. “A loving one” seemed the best response, especially given that Jesus said it was by our love one for the other that the world would recognize us as his followers. Still, what love looks like begs for some more detail. John the Baptist was asked, “Who are you? What do you say about yourself?” The people asking him had their own ideas about how to answer the questions, but the prophet ultimately established his identity... Read this post

Best Seat in the House

April 29, 2015 3:56 pm

  Best Seat in the House   One of my new joys in life is The Ryman, the beautiful and historic Mother Church of Country Music where I savored the richly textured jazz sounds of Diana Krall this past week. Ryman magic is not news to those of you who’ve called Greater Nashville ‘home’ for many years, but for the newbies its discovery is right up there with a first kiss. While I’ve only been to a few events there so far, I know it’s a place where I’m going to spend a lot of happy hours over the next... Read this post

Alimentary Theology

April 21, 2015 2:47 pm

Alimentary Theology Food, Faith, and the Feast of the King 2 Samuel 9; Psalm 78:25 April 21, 2015 “Cooking is the oldest of all arts: Adam was born hungry, and every new child… utters cries which only his mother’s breast can quiet.” Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin “Centuries of secularism have failed to transform eating into something strictly utilitarian. Food is still treated with reverence…To eat is still something more than to maintain bodily functions. People may not understand what that ‘something more’ is, but they nonetheless desire to celebrate it. They are still hungry and thirsty for sacramental life.” ―... Read this post

The Deeper Vandalism – And its Cure

April 17, 2015 11:50 am

Like all the parents in the Williamson County School District I received an email from the Superintendent to inform us about bomb threats at two area schools, with a third one (so far) added to the list later in the week. The first threats were communicated via graffiti sprayed on bathroom walls, indicating that it might well have been the action of students. Perhaps they thought it to be nothing more than a harmless prank. If so, they are wrong. We live in the post-Columbine, Sandy Hook, 9-11 age, the era of ISIS. It is a time when humankind lives... Read this post

Happy Home Hunting

April 12, 2015 10:12 pm

Across Williamson County “For Sale” signs are sprouting like dandelions as home sellers hope to cash in on a white hot market, and home buyers hope to find the new and perfect place to pursue their dreams. Can there be anything more fun than shopping for a new home? I’m kidding, of course. It’s a perfectly dreadful experience, right there with trying to sell your house. And electric shock therapy. House listings are like first dates, good impressions being the main objective which makes Real Estate listings the bricks and mortar version of Match.com. Whether or not a ‘second date’... Read this post

Speaking the Language of Outside In

April 8, 2015 12:59 am

“The missional church avoids talking as if non-believing people were not present. If you speak as if your whole neighborhood were present (and not just scattered Christians), eventually more and more of your neighbors will find their way in or be invited…” – Dr. Tim Keller, Redeemer Pres (NYC) “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:6 Paul wrote that the speech of a Christian should be ‘seasoned’ with grace, a beautiful culinary metaphor that reminds us that because words are something... Read this post

Plus Ultra!

April 5, 2015 12:54 am

The crest displayed at the center of the flag of the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon had for many years read under its splendid artwork “Ne Plus Ultra” “Nothing Further Beyond”. After Christopher Columbus returned from his voyage to the new world, the crest stood in need of a rewrite. “Plus Ultra” “More Beyond” was emblazoned on the flag, a motto that is there to this day. For centuries human beings had stood at the open mouths of graves and tombs, wondering if perhaps there was more to us than meets the eye, asking with the ancient longsuffering Job,... Read this post

Tweets are the New “Amens” of Church

March 29, 2015 1:24 am

Twitter is so highly valued in my head that I tend to think of the Book of Proverbs as King Solomon’s Twitter account. I can easily imagine seeing ‘@RoyalWisdomSol’ right after, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue” or “Without a vision my people perish”. While a great deal of the twitterverse is a sea of silliness and shame ­ like all social media ­ there are notable islands of sanity, encouragement, and healthy entertainment as well. Its also quite a barometer about world culture. Lady Gaga has over 40 million followers while an exceedingly popular Pope... Read this post

Buzzers, Brackets, and Prophets

March 22, 2015 1:21 am

Like millions of Americans I’ve filled out my NCAA Tourney brackets for March Madness. That’s ‘brackets’ plural because I like to give myself as many chances as possible to look like an expert. Oh, and a chance at millions of dollars too. Warren Buffett has offered a massive payday for anyone who can successfully predict the outcome of each game. Even the Microsoft Bing brain has a bracket filled out! Well, I can humbly report that my ability to predict the outcome of these games is less than stellar. Oh sure, I still have a shot at the Final Four... Read this post