Author Archive
Six Spiritual Lessons I Learned at the Gym
Some experiences in life are like thumbnail images of the larger mural of our lives. They startle us with their simplicity; they awaken us with their clarity. They are tutors in the larger classroom of our every day lives, guides on the road of our spiritual journeys. Recently I had an opportunity for a gym [...]
Is “Submit” the Only Word We Can Say to Christian Wives?
She came to me cautiously. Clearly she was a woman distressed by her husband’s deep unkindness. Her story touched on pain, on fear, on confusion, on hatred. My heart ached with sympathy as her heart cried for help. I responded to her cautiously. Clearly she needed the true counsel of God’s Word to salve her [...]
Bible Reading: Pick Your Plan for 2012
Personal Bible reading can be a glorious adventure or a guilt-burdened duty. Choosing a Bible reading plan that fits your life may be part of the key to finding delight within the pages of the Old Book. Have you ever read through the whole Bible in a year? For me, this strategy for Bible [...]
Surviving Toxic Leaders: How to Work for Flawed People in Churches, Schools, and Christian Organizations
By Kenneth O Gangel, Wipf and Stock, 2008 Toxic leaders. The topic frequently pops up in both secular and religious news. Undeniably, toxic leaders even flourish within fundamental churches and organizations. Kenneth Gangel’s book, Surviving Toxic Leaders, answers two main questions: what does toxicity look like and how should people under toxic leaders respond effectively. The author [...]
How Do You Define Worldliness?
The very word “worldly” immediately conjures lavish sights and sensual sounds in our minds, conscientiously inscribed there by preaching and teaching we have heard over the years. The nightclub’s throb and strobe stroking embodied sensuality is instantly associated with a more blatant side of worldliness. More sedate icons of worldliness include the sleek BMW parked [...]
The Harvey Dent Solution
Darkness rules in Gotham City. Although Batman’s vigilante attacks against evil have caused a glimmer of hope to shine in the hearts of the faithful, Gotham continues to be engulfed in corruption and crime. New district attorney, Harvey Dent, enters the story as the city’s great hope for addressing real problems. Touted as the “White [...]
Grace-Based Confession
Bobby Emberley is in his last year of his bachelor’s degree programme at Bible college in the US. As a “pastor’s kid” brought up in a fundamental church and Christian school, he is well acquainted with fundamentalism as an insider. When he shared this story with me a few weeks ago, I asked him to [...]
Broken Cisterns: The Distorted Theology of Spiritual Addiction
Halloween season has just come and gone in the US. It’s a time where ghosts and zombies and other other-worldly bad guys get their airtime and are erected on stakes in town centres across the country. Creepy! Horror shows and haunted houses proliferate, daring us to be lured into their self-created world of the supernatural. [...]
Feeling Guilty, Feeling Good: The Twisted Self-Tortures of Spiritual Addictions
Her stricken face is etched in my memory. An out-of-town visitor to our church, the troubled woman approached us in anguish after the service. Her problem? Our church’s failure to have an invitation at the end of the service so she could “get things right” with God. Spiritual addiction. It’s the idea that I can’t [...]
Risking Grace, Reaping Growth
The church auditorium buzzed with dozens of conversations during the after-church fellowship. Zoning out the background clamour, Bill’s attention focused on Dan’s wrinkled brow and troubled words. “Some people here in our church think we are becoming too liberal in our music. We’ve started using some of the newer hymns by the Gettys and Sovereign [...]
Complement, Coworker or Doormat?
Three main streams of thought on the roles of men and women exist within the church. They are briefly defined below. For a fuller explanation, click here. Complementarianism (n.) The belief that men and women have complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage and the church. Leadership roles are prescribed for men; support roles are [...]
Pastor’s Wife or Superwoman?
The yellowing leaves of ancient trees shivered in the early autumn breeze. The picnic food was gone, but the church people lingered to chat. A woman with a troubled expression pulled up her chair next to mine. Intensely lowering her voice, she shared her concern. “We’ve been trying to find a pastor for a while, [...]
