Greatness from Seth Godin: "The currencies of anybody who wants to make change are are attention and trust. And they’re in a [vicious?] cycle. You don’t get attention unless you’re trusted. You don’t get trusted unless you get attention. ... You can light yourself on fire in the street, but you don’t earn trust doing that. … Continue reading “The Only Two Things That Matter” (Godin)

Why should you care about the work of Biblijski institut (and dozens of other evangelical ministries and churches in the former Yugoslavia)? My life is dedicated to Croatia, to seeing the Kingdom of God grow here and in the former Yugoslavia (what Americans refer to as the Balkans).  So of course, I care deeply about … Continue reading A Christian Croatia: Should You Care?

For years, I have taught standard evangelical hermeneutics.  In other words: the meaning of the biblical text for us today begins with the meaning of that text to the original author and audience. "A text cannot mean what it never meant," as Fee & Stuart say. (I used to tell my classes that I wanted … Continue reading Hermeneutics As Apprenticeship

"Where your treasure is, there is your heart." Do you have any idea how much the Bible says about money? Do you have any idea how complicated the Bible's attitude toward money is?  There's nothing simple here; it's not "Money is a blessing. Enjoy!" and it's not "Money is evil, give it all away."  It's … Continue reading Preaching About Money

On our trip to America--yes, we're finally home, still fighting the jet lag--I "discovered" a "new" worship band, Young Oceans.  It appears to be less a band and more the project of a single songwriter, Eric Marshall.  The project is associated with Trinity Grace Church of New York City. Wikipedia describes the project as "meditative … Continue reading “New” Worship Artist, Young Oceans

In part 1 of this series, I talked about why the postmodern, post-Christian world doesn't trust the church.  I think the factors I discuss there hold true across the USA, in and out of the Bible belt.  I also think they are generally true in Europe. In part 2, I talked about how there are … Continue reading Witness in Exile 4

As I noted last week, there's just no place on earth that makes my heart resonate the way Dallas / Fort Worth does. There's no other place we belong the way we belong here. From the moment we left DFW in 2001, we longed to be back. Then we came back in 2012, and thought … Continue reading Leaving DFW

Who is our model as we seek to engage the postmodern world? Again: our model is Jesus.  Here specifically I have in mind his encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4; this is a perfect example of how Christians can engage the seeking world. Jesus treats her with respect and compassion.  Whatever the facts … Continue reading Witness in Exile 3

So here is the paradox.  Our world is suspicious of Christianity, but at the same time it yearns deeply for the things that the church is great at providing WHEN IT FOCUSES ON BEING THE CHURCH. What kinds of things does the world desperately need? FIRST, the world needs authenticity & transparency.  It needs Christians … Continue reading Witness in Exile 2