Complexity's Paradox

43 years ago this month, I was a grad assistant at Pepperdine, living off campus with a rarely present friend, riding a motorcycle and a cool car, with three girl friends (none of whom knew about the others, fortunately). On the outside, life appeared perfect. But internally, I was a mess. After four years of spiritual searching, I surrendered control of my life to the only being worthy of it. I certainly didn’t meet that standard.

 The ride since has been wild. I’ve pastored churches and sinned and grown, written books and sinned and grown, taught at Christian universities and high schools and sinned and grown.

 And the further I travel through life, the more the complexity of life amazes me.

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The End of an Era?

Funny how one small incident can increase consequences. Just last Friday, a friend, Carol Efaw, posted a link, nominally on the Duck Dynasty discussion. But the author, Gary Alan Taylor, went much further, suggesting that the incident demonstrates we’re now in a post Christian era. With Augustine legalizing Christianity, Taylor says “a cosmic revolution took place resulting in the alignment of the church with the ruling political regime of the day.”

 According to Taylor, and I agree on this, that’s gone. Realistically, those committed to Christian values are becoming a minority influence.

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Exulting in Guilt

At times

I exult

                        in the pleasures of sin

            blanking out the wrong

            enjoying the illicit

                        caught in the moment

                                    imagining that is all that is

 

But as pleasure fades...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What Does Your God Look Like?

In the interests of integrity and full disclosure, I stole this post. The pastor of a church in Post Falls, ID, Aaron Couch, spoke at our church yesterday. Simple. Convicting. A hard message that prompted much meditation. Let’s focus on one.

 Why do we “keep the rules” of Christianity? An earlier post explored how God’s rules benefit us—he best knows how we optimally function. Aaron hitchhiked on that—our behavior puts God on display. We “all reflect the Lord’s glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 So, what God do we reflect? As people look at how we reflect the one we claim to serve, what God do they see?

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Structure? Who, Me?

I’m embarrassed. Deeply. Soon, you’ll see why. A few months ago I posted how I got stuck spiritually, couldn’t figure out the cause, then God intervened in a very good Good Friday service. In the last week or so, I have some glimmers of the source.

 But know that I tend to hang loose. Too much regimentation and structure bring tension. Working hard is good, IF it varies. Now, here comes the embarrassment.

 For about 30 years, I was a “professional” Christian—a pastor, author of Christian books, a teacher...

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