Is Marketing Jesus Killing the Church?
My last article, which several thousand of you read (thank you so much), apparently struck a chord. It's becoming undeniably clear that something is fundamentally broken about the modern Church movement in the West. Too many are leaving disenchanted, confused, hurt, broken, and even questioning their faith. If it were only me, I would have shrugged it off as some sort of personal deficiency or misunderstanding. But I have heard from hundreds of you over the last few days, reaching out (mostly anonymously) to tell me you've experienced the same things I did -- namely abuse and a woeful lack
Things My Kids Say: No. 027
Well, I learned something today. Apparently my son already knows about the birds and the bees. And I've just been schooled on exactly how I ended up with my children. Virgil: Mom, did you know that we are your presents? Me: Yes, I did! You are a gift from God! Virgil: Yes! God wrapped us up in pretty boxes and He put ribbons on them. And then he gave the boxes to Jesus and Jesus got in his car and brought us to you! Me: You know son, you're absolutely right! Lesson: learned. Whew. I'm glad that talk is out
I Can Love Jesus Without Going to Church
I hear this a lot these days: "I can love Jesus without going to church." I suppose you can. But you won't get very far. If you're one of those people, don't tune out. There's something you need to hear. When I was in college, I saw a tshirt that said, "Jesus is not a religion." I loved it. I thought it was so perfect. That's right, Jesus not a religion! What a revolutionary thought!! It was that mindset that set me down the path to the version of Christian "spirituality" I sported for many years. I loved to say
Jesus Keeps Disappointing Me
I have a question today. It's simple, really. But I've been pondering it a lot lately. Do you love Jesus? Do I love Jesus? To clarify, in the context of this post, this is not a question for non-believers. Certainly if you don't believe in your need for Jesus, if you're not a believer, I am praying that your eyes will be opened. Certainly if you don't have Jesus, you need Him. But that's for another post. Today's question is for believers - do we love Jesus? I'm not asking this question as some sort of ploy to get us
A Bold Humility
Bold humility. Humble boldness. No matter how you word it, those two words don't go together. They are counter-intuitive. One should cancel out the other. To the world, that is. But I've learned something pretty profound about God as I've walked with Him - He's all about surprising us with opposite, counter-intuitive, seemingly impossible thinking. When we say, "Stay. It's not going to work," He says, "Go. I've got this." When we think it's crazy, He says it's His plan. When the world says, "Your life has to look a certain way," God says, "Let me show you what real
A Song For a Friend
Above: Stacy (left) with her beautiful daughter (right) with my husband on our wedding day It was five years ago today. We lost a friend that was one of the most selfless, kind, truly honest persons I've ever met. Her name was Stacy. She was a wife, a mother, a friend, a lover of Jesus. And to me, she was a rock. I miss her every time I have a funny story to tell. I think of her every time I pass by the places we frequented together. I miss her every time something happens in my life
Unexpected Turns and Crazy Ideas
When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we
Like a Good Little Christian
I used to be a good little Christian. I knew all the Christian-ese. I had a few key scriptures memorized. I did all the things good Christians do - I read my Bible pretty regularly, I went to church every Sunday, I listened to worship music in my spare time, I memorized popular Bible verses. I was really good at acting like a good Christian. And I counted it all as merits in my honor. I was doing a God a favor, I guess. I used to think that there were levels of Christianity. Growing up in church, I was
I Didn’t Have Time for God
I was too tired to read the Bible. It put me to sleep. I struggled for a long time. I felt like a failure. I looked around me and saw my Christian friends reading the Bible, growing, learning, praying, in what seemed like a perfectly disciplined faith. I felt like I couldn't live up to that anymore because I was a mother. What little time I had to myself, I was too tired to read the Bible. It put me to sleep. I felt so guilty that reading the Word of God put me to sleep, but it did. I
When God Makes No Sense
When you can't feel God, believe He's there anyway. When you can't see God's hand, believe it's there anyway. When you can't understand God's plan, trust it anyway. That's faith, friends. It's easy to see a person of faith and assume they just walk on a bed of roses, perhaps blissfully unaware of the issues around them. It's easy to look at someone else's life and say, "Yeah, good for them, but they have no idea what real suffering is. They have no idea how hard my life or situation is." But they do. How do I know? Because they're
Atheism is Impossible (A New Year’s Revelation)
It's a new year, and while most of us are probably wrestling with our resolutions and how we are going to finally execute them this year, I have a challenge for you. Instead of a resolution, how about you have a revelation? Scientifically, you can't be an atheist. My pastor told a story once about sitting on a plane next to an atheist. He challenged the man by telling him that he thought atheism was scientifically impossible. You can hear his witty banter here, if you want. Or you can read my summary. My pastor challenged the man by pointing
To Santa or Not to Santa: That is the Question
It's that time of year. When elves are being mischievous on shelves. When reindeer are flying around shopping center rooftops. When an old man can somehow see when I'm sleeping. He knows when I'm awake. He knows if I've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake. (That's the only reason to be good, after all.) I don't ever want my kids to grow up thinking Christmas is all about Santa, or Santa's birthday (thank you, Bart Simpson). I know lots of families who wrestle with faith versus culture this time of year. I've read many blogs on
Record Cold, a Dead Heater and a Miracle I Didn’t See
"The worst ice storm in years!" "The coldest weather DFW has ever seen this time of year!" "Icemageddon!!" "Icepocalypse!" These are just some of the phrases floating around social media and local news over the past few days here in Dallas/Fort Worth. It has been the coldest, iciest weather I can remember in DFW. It started on Thursday with freezing rain and sleet, coming down in droves, for a solid day. And here we are, Monday morning, and about 2% of it has melted. Literally entire freeways are shut down. People have been stranded on the highway for days. No
A Letter to All the New Moms, From a Recovering Perfectionist
Before I had children, I knew exactly what kind of parent I was going to be. After my first child, I just knew I was mother of the year. After my second child, I questioned whether or not I should give my children up to be raised by wolves - perhaps they would do better than I. After my second child, I questioned whether or not I should give my children up to be raised by wolves - perhaps they would do better than I. I went to the hospital yesterday to visit a friend who just had her first
A Spiritual Smorgasbord and Its Various Impacts On an Otherwise Sane Person
I grew up in church. Ok, more specifically I grew up in a non-denominational Disciples of Christ church and an evangelical, charismatic Church of God private school. And then I went to a Baptist church. Ok so, more accurately, I grew up denominationally confused. The liturgical, dogmatic church where I grew up was in stark contrast to the charismatic, evangelical spirit-filled church where I went to school. Whereas on Sunday mornings I was wearing robes and lighting candles, on weekdays I was casting out demons and dancing in chapel. Then when I became Baptist I learned a lot about rules