Ordained
In 1980 I was baptized at San Dimas Wesleyan Church by pastor George Jenewein. His signature is on my baptism certificate. A very tiny bit more than 39 years later, I was ordained in The Wesleyan Church, and the signature … Continue reading
Category Archives: missional
What does it mean to be a transformative church?
What does it mean to be a transformative church? Two elements orient my overall purpose. A church is transformative when it engages in the development of people to better reflect the life of Christ in their lives and when this … Continue reading
Posted in church, emerging church, missional, theology, Transformative Church, writing
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Acknowledgments
Since only a small number of people will ever look at my dissertation (hopefully a much larger number look at the Fortress Press published version), I am posting here my Acknowledgment section that is at the beginning of the dissertation. … Continue reading
Creating a Missional Culture
Over the last couple of decades there have been various streams of church development, pointing at first to how older approaches were missing the mark and losing the vision and hiding behind walls. What was wrong? How did it go … Continue reading
Entrusting
The process of embedding a transcendent reality within an imminent context is one of illumination, seeing reality for what it is and, in this, making the truly worthwhile stand in contrast to the wrong and misguided. Such a process for … Continue reading
Posted in dissertation musings, emerging theology, holiness, Holy Spirit, Jesus, missional, theology
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Truth, Beauty, and Yodeling Pickles
Peter, “It’s just a bit of silliness really.” JM Barrie, “I should hope so.” ~from the movie, Finding Neverland There’s something about theology and ministry that makes me serious. Now, that’s not a comment about how seriously I take it, … Continue reading
The Crux of the Cross
A wee bit from my dissertation writing: Moltmann writes: When the crucified Jesus is called ‘the image of the invisible God’, the meaning is that this is God, and god is like this. God is not greater than he is … Continue reading
Posted in academia, dissertation musings, Jesus, missional, theology
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Weaponized Ethics
In the file cabinet of my brain, I keep assorted topics and ideas in a folder for future consideration. Maybe it will be a book or an article or something. Somehow, someway, it’s going to get a fuller treatment from … Continue reading
Posted in missional
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Abomination, Desolation, and Christmas
Last evening, I had the opportunity to preach at the Saturday evening service over at PazNaz. This year, the church has been going through the book of Mark and so rather than having a traditional Advent passage, the passage I … Continue reading
Triumphant Entry and Turning over the Tables
Here’s the outline/text of the sermon I preached last night on Mark 11:1-11, 15-19. It served more as a guide than as a script, but it’s full enough that I think it’s worth posting here. The Book of Mark is … Continue reading
