God
It’s not about me
This weekend is Easter Sunday. As a guy who works at a church, that’s one of the busy seasons. One of the “all hands on deck” kind of moments. I hate about myself that I have a capacity to make things about myself. I over-think, over-analyze how I’m doing, what I’m doing- not that I think I’m what’s important in the grand scheme of things, but rather I am the only thing that I control. So I overthink my role…
Day of the Dead
For a large chunk of my life, January 2 was a holiday in my house. A day of solitude, reflection, pondering. I considered it akin to the whipping-boy of old- that if I could just get out all my self loathing, depression, inner sadness for one day, maybe the next I could put back on the game face I use for my daily life. I would allow myself one full day to wallow in anything I felt deserved it. Cry,…
In Salem as it is in heaven…
I feel like there’s a sea of change coming for what christianity looks like in america. Like so many times before, we sit on a generational cusp, where the older and younger generations aren’t just different, but so supremely different that I see change being the only way forward for the church. 40% of people church attenders under the age of 40 have stopped attending in the last year. That’s not a seasonal or cyclical pattern, that’s a mass exodus.…
Trust
I’ve spent a lot of time praying lately, but the same few things on my heart on repeat to God. I’m not flowery in wording, not excessive in time, just super often repeated the same things I’m asking God to do in and around me. That as my family faces so many unknowns, and seemingly the next couple years could take us in very divergent paths, would our hearts remain His, would we love God with all we’ve got and…
Bring my vision upwards
I’ve had a struggle lately at work. Been wrapped up in it, to the detriment of my work, if I’m being real. I’ve delved into all the nuance of why I’m concerned about the future of our church, and all the reasons that our present sins might veer us enough off course to not exist in a few years. I wrestle with the knowledge that I see certain things like rampant pride, idolatry, and a failure to carry out the…
Sitting on the edge
There are times in life where you know you’re in the good ole days. Then there are times when you know you’re sitting on the raggedy edge, one push away from major change, unsure if that change will be good or bad. These last few years, I’ve often commented to my wife that we’d look back later on this as a really stable and happy time- we’re in a good spot in our marriage, we have a safe, healthy, and…
Identity
I can be such an idiot sometimes. I feel like I have to re-learn the same lessons over and over. Maybe that’s you too, because the more I grow older the more I see all people needing reminded far more than we need educated. I used to work at a computer store in the bay area. I prided myself on being a part of a small and ultra specialized group of people that lived on the cutting edge of computer…
The Worst Dream…
Man, I just woke up from the worst dream. I felt like it lasted years, and like most events, it’s not even believable, and sounds so zany and stupid when I say it out loud. In it, America elected a reality TV star as president. They were all so mad a black guy had been president that they elected Donald Trump- a guy with a laundry list of sexual assaults under his belt, and zero presidential qualifications. Now I know…
The unknown
I watched last week as Rudy Golbert of the NBA made fun of the Covid19/Coronavirus and played bongos on each of the microphones in front of him to demonstrate how unafraid he was of the next big threat. Then one day later, the NBA was shutting down for the first time ever over health reasons. As I started to laugh at what a moron he was, I recognized, “That’s exactly what I would do!” That same Wednesday, we were talking…
RIOT Message Feb 2020 #2
RIOT MESSAGE Judges 7 So part two of a double header about dear ole Gideon. To hear the first message, go back in time and show up last week. 🙂 So let’s catch you up in case you weren’t here- here’s the armies, camped out, gettin ready for battle. Gideon went all scaredy cat, and double triple checked that God was still God. Spoilers, he was. Now here we are, battle getting ready. Prolly some dude in a skirt going…
RIOT Sermon Feb 2020
RIOT MESSAGE Judges 6 Judges 6-8 6-7:23 first week How many of us have ever thought something along the lines of “I wish I could know that God is real” that he’s on our side, loves us, has our back etc. I have. I think anyone being honest would say they have, right? Wether you don’t yet believe in Jesus, you wish you knew for sure. If you do, you wish you knew for sure. Like for sure. Sure. Who…
Wrote this for work
So this is my daughter Maddie. She’s still pretty new here to the planet. Rather than spending my bio talking about me, I’m gunna talk about her, and what I want for her. I want her to grow up and know Jesus. I don’t want her to just know about Him, I want her to love Jesus in with the depth and genuine passion with which I love her. I want her to avoid my mistakes of rampant pride and…
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