Category: new frontier
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Are we caught in consumer Christianity?
How can I sing a new song of deliverance to those who have no hope, if, at the same time, I insist on remaining comfortable among those who do?
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Going the distance
NO LONGER DRIVING THE DISTANCE: The first thing I noticed was that the contribution was an odd number. ($___.32) Most contributions come in as whole numbers ($000.00). And then I saw a strange note attached to the record that read: “gasoline & pet care savings.” I first wondered if there was some mistake, and…
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‘Jesus Comin’ Back to Town’
This week we are going to get to know Mark Spoelstra. Mark is listed in Wikipedia as “an American singer-songwriter and folk and blues guitarist.” From his early days in Greenwich Village, New York, he periodically brushed with fame, but stayed mostly on the edges, endearing himself to those loyal folk music fans who were…
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In the presence of the Lord
I have finally found a place to live In the presence of the Lord – Eric Clapton That was then; this is now. My purpose for turning back the clock on the Jesus movement (see yesterday’s Catch) was to show how God periodically breaks in on history,…
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Jesus unscathed
Some say He was an outlaw, that He roamed across the land With a band of unschooled ruffians and a few old fishermen No one knew just where he came from or exactly what he’d done But they said it must be something bad that kept him on the run …
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‘All aboard!’
People, get ready There’s a train a-coming You don’t need no ticket You just get on board All you need is faith To hear the diesels humming Don’t need no ticket You just thank the Lord – Curtis Mayfield Get ready people; something’s coming. Curtis Mayfield knew it. “I must have been in a very…
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‘Pulling out of the station’
I’m not sure who first said it, but it’s become pretty much of a commonly held belief now that 80 is the new 60. I’ll believe anything that makes me younger. That still seems a little old, but the truth of the matter is that age is in your head. There are 20-year-olds who are…
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The salt of the earth
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13 This verse has always puzzled me. I’m going to try to put some pieces together for all…
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Burning (Straw) Man
I’m having a hard time getting rid of something I don’t want anymore. I may need your help. It’s my evangelical awareness. It haunts me like a small cloud that follows me everywhere, or like a straw man who whispers over my shoulder when I’m writing, “Don’t say this.” “Don’t even imply that; they…
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Matthew 28:19-20 Challenge
by Marti Fischer You’ll need to take some time with this one… Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of…
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The other side of the generation gap
Those were the days my friend We thought they’d never end We’d sing and dance forever and a day We’d live the life we choose We’d fight and never lose Those were the days, oh yes those were the days – words by Gene Raskin One of our readers pointed…
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Where boomers and millennials “R” both OK
As if we needed one more reason to be divided. On top of huge chasms in politics, conservative and liberal philosophies, racial divides, and the ever widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots, we now have a generational divide fueled by a movement started on social media and legitimized on the floor of the…
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From Creation to Restoration
We’re going to spend some more time this week on “The rest of the gospel” that I spoke to last week because it is critical to what differentiates the true gospel from this phenomenon we have come to know at least in America as a cultural/political faction masked as Christian. Being committed to the whole…
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America (still) in crisis
Os Guinness’s observations and prophetic challenges about America and culture are so spot on, they remain true over time and something that needs to grab our attention more than just once. I am re-releasing a summary of an interview we did with him almost two years ago. We need to remember and be encouraged at…
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What’s important to Jesus?
Most of the answers to this can be found in one of the more electrifying moments of Christ’s sojourn here on earth. It was fairly early on in His ministry, and He was in the town of Nazareth where He grew up. It was the Sabbath, and Jesus was in the Jewish temple and someone…