Learning how to actually do the things Jesus said and did — It was the second time in a week and my wife Amber was highly offended. A close friend this time. A few days earlier, the offense had been from an acquaintance and had been countered by an appropriately spiny remark. That had been a grade-F failure. But this time, the…

Chapter 6 — The Message and the Way There’s a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous. “It works if you work it, because you’re worth it.” Reading about the 12-step program is not very useful to an alcoholic. They would walk into a bar and think, “What was step one again? Something…

A Gospel parable: a King, a kingdom, and our response — There once were three lords who each possessed a manor on the edge of a forbidden forest. All three had enjoyed peace for many years and profited from the fruitful soil and predictable weather. However, savages lived in the forbidden forest and the lords never knew when they might attack. …

Chapter 5 — The Message and the Way I met Benny Hinn once. You know, the flamboyant charismatic healer and televangelist from the 80’s that waved his white coat, sending people flying under the power of the Spirit. …

Chapter 4 — The Message and the Way — base unit (noun): one of a set of fundamental units in a system of measurement that is based on a natural phenomenon or established standard and from which other units may be derived (Merriam-Webster) What is church? At first, that seems like a question that does not merit much reflection…

Chapter 3 — The Message and the Way — Vizzini: INCONCEIVABLE! Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word, I don’t think you know what it means. (The Princess Bride, 20th Century Fox, 1987) It’s hard to accept that The Princess Bride is now a “classic”. There are also words we use in church that have become classics; their meaning…

Chapter 2 — The Message and the Way — Haggai is one of those books in the Old Testament that is easy to pass by. It’s short — two chapters — and doesn’t seem to pack the prophetic punch of an Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or even Malachi. …

The Message and the Way — Introduction — A Movement of Ordinary Christians Finding lost balls and waking sleeping giants to contend for renewal and awaken a movement of ordinary Christians. Chapter 1 — The Empire Has No Clothes How do you follow Jesus in a culture where lies are celebrated as truth and the powers at…

Chapter 1 — The Message and the Way — “But he hasn’t got anything on!” You’ve probably heard the famous folktale by Hans Christian Andersen, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” In the story, two swindlers deceive the emperor into believing that they can weave material that is invisible to anyone who was unfit for their office or not very bright. The vain and insecure emperor decides…