The Calling Driven church – Putting Meat on the Bones
Several readers raised questions in response to, I Long for a Calling Driven church. The key questions (so far) are: What does it look like to “hear” …
Beliefs of the heart
I Long for a Calling Driven church
At a prayer group in 1988, I felt urged to pray over a man. As I prayed I felt God say, “If this man left this prayer group, it would make no …
Confessions of a Man with a Sick Identity
My wife Carla almost died on our honeymoon. Traveling to Colorado for a two week vacation, we spent Sunday night in Iowa. The next morning Carla …
The Wonder of the Ascension
A couple of weeks ago Christians celebrated the Ascension of Jesus. Do you ever wonder why we celebrate the Ascension? I understand celebrating the …
The Heresy of Wonder-less Theology
I wonder sometimes if the greatest problem facing the modern church is a lack of wonder. When we were kids, all kinds of experiences brought wonder. …
Imagination, Intimacy, and Hearing God
I’m discovering that meditation is one of the most powerful ways to hear God. No, “powerful” isn’t a strong enough word. Meditation may be the most …
To Be, or to Do, that is the question
God is speaking to me again—I resist this message—about Being before Doing. I mix them up. I bet you do too. It is so “natural” to work (do) those …
Christianity: Will-Power or Desire-Power?
I know a man, a really good man, whose life is filled with drudgery. He dutifully cares for his wife and family; he dutifully pours out his life in …
How Does God View Us?
There’s a story about the artist Michelangelo who passed by a block of marble somewhere. He stopped transfixed and said, “I see an angel in there. …
Hearing God and Reflection
Thirty years ago I lived and worked in London with several other men. We were involved in campus ministry and the charismatic renewal. One …
Our Downward Spiral of Addiction
Cynthia Hymel lived in New York in the 1970s and she knew actors and artists before their fame—while they were still bussing tables and driving …
Filling the Void[ance]
My father taught me that discovering our true selves cannot be had by merely avoiding negative behavior we see in others. But herein lays an irony: …