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Why Wouldn't I… A New Article at Leadership Journal

I write a monthly column for Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.  My December submission get’s pretty honest. To read the full article go here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2014/december-online-only/why-wouldnt-i.html?utm_content=buffer47ae9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&start=1 Here is a short excerpt: Two days before Peter’s call, I taught my last class at a local college, a place I had grown to love. It was a preaching class—when his number […]

First Thoughts, Third Week of Advent

Setting: The Albina Press Coffee House Coffee: Stumptown Guatemala Finca el Injerto Sound: Penny and Sparrow’s “Struggle Pretty” View: This neighborhood mural…. “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle” -St. Francis Last evening during our Advent ceremony we were discussing the candles. Our candles dance around one another […]

First Thoughts, Monday December 8th

Happy second week of Advent.  Last night, around the dining room table, house aglow with Christmas lights, we lit the Peace Candle together with our boyz and some of out close friends.  It was a lovely ceremony. The very essence of nativity peace is the belief in Immanuel which simply means “God with us.” In […]

First Thoughts, Monday December 1st

Happy December.  Blessed Advent. Well, it is another monday morning.  I am back at my favorite table in my local bagel shop. I have my coffee in my grumpy-man-face mug. I am sitting on my sparkly gold, 50’s style vinyl booth. It is a cold morning here in Portland. Walking here, I found myself noticing all […]

#StayWokeAdent: A Guest Post by Micky Jones

(This is a guest post from my dear friend, Micky Jones. Please read and consider adding these mediations to your Advent.) Dear Friends, Advent is a time when sentimentality and spiritualization reigns. But, in more ancient forms of Christianity, Advent was more a season of penitence, not unlike Lent. Today, that call for repentance includes […]

First Thoughts, Monday November 24th

It is monday morning. I am thinking about rubbing my coffee cup looking for a genie.  I could use a genie. When we say, “I trust God,” what does that mean? In the gospel of Matthew, starting in chapter 5, Jesus is strolling around a hillside.  He is riffing.  It may in fact be the […]

First Thoughts, Monday November 17th

This is an important monday.  There is a busy and important week ahead.  I guess every week is important, I am just more aware of the importance of this one. I feel anxious… unsure… tired. I am once again at my favorite early morning cafe in my neighborhood, same favorite booth with sparkly gold vinyl […]

First Thoughts, Monday, November 10th

There is something about an early morning (6-ish) walk through one’s neighborhood: cool air on the face, not a single car in motion, quiet glow from only some of the homes.  As I pass my neighbors I try to imagine the day/week that lay before them.  How many troubles? How many victories? How many joys, […]

Does God Really Like ALL of Me?

I am sitting in my newest Portland find.  I love these little gems that surprise.  I am in Cathedral Coffee House, just a stones throw from the iconic St. John’s Bridge (which I just learned was featured in the movie “Pay if Forward”). I am drinking the cafe’s signature coffee roast “Cathedral Anniversary Blend”.  It […]