During my semi-sabbatical, I am trying to spend a few hours every morning in prayer, reflection and meditation. I subscribed to several daily devotionals and have let them guide me to various biblical passages. The two devotional readings today were all about God’s desire to be with us, to...

This post is a personal confession.  I have been in hiding.  I know God called me to minister boldly as a part of the church universal but I have been hiding behind my non-profit and under my “Executive Director” title.  I have been hanging out in the margins with people who let me be...

I love people who are bold enough to tell the truth especially when the truth will mean rocking the boat.  Robert Lupton is a bold truth teller in his book “Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It.”  Below are just a few excerpts from...

In 2009 I wrote a post titled, “Empowering a Movement – A Search for Missional Structures”, about the oldest and in my opinion best expression of a truly misisonal church.  In the original post I shared insights from the writings of Elizabeth O’Connor, who was a long-time leader at...

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  Howard Thurman This week I spent three days in New Orleans with the wonderful folks from The Fund for Theological Education (FTE) at their...

“Religion is lived by people who are afraid of hell. Spirituality is lived by people who have been through hell.”   Over the years some of the most sensitive and compassionate people I have met have been recovering addicts and some of the most spiritually enlightened people I know,...

I had the opportunity to travel to California recently to visit a number of ministries that would never define themselves as a “church.”  However, I am getting a sense that how we define church is shifting.  This is how Kathy Escobar defined church in her book “Down We...

Do you remember this scene from the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?” “Is he a man?”, asked Lucy. “Aslan, a man?”, said Mr.Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you, He is the King of the wood and the son of the...

I have gone through a fair amount of painful experiences in my life.  I had three miscarriages in my twenties, lost my father to suicide at age thirty, my daughter suffered a major medical condition two years ago, and I have had those I minister to lie to me, slander my name, steal from me...

When I explain to people that I work in the inner city and have a call to social justice ministries, I always get stories back about how they know someone who runs a clothing closet, or about how they served in a soup kitchen one time or give money to people on the street.  I have nothing...

Recently a friend of mine shared concern over the fact that her children, who are in their forties, love Christ and live by Christian principals but have little interest in being a part of the institutional church. I read this quote this week over at Emerging Mummy which speaks to why some...

Several months ago my friend Charles and I were delivering school supplies to a church for inner city children living in Church Hill.  This community was named Church Hill because there is a church on nearly every corner; large stately churches that cast ominous shadows.  I mistakenly missed...