Big News for Our Family

Big News for Our Family

23 Mar , 2017 No Comments

This upcoming May will be my twelfth anniversary of being on staff at Central. It has been an unbelievable journey for me and my family. When I started on staff I was finishing up my undergrad degree and was about to get married. I began as a fifteen-month intern and had no idea how long I’d be on staff here. Now we have five kids and we’ve been married more than eleven years. And now we also feel God is leading us to a new opportunity for the next season of ministry.

I realize this likely comes as a shock to many of you. I know it did to me. Yet I’ve felt God moving in my heart and it has been repeatedly confirmed in Michelle as well. We sense God nudging us away from the safety of what we know and love in order to experience a new chapter in our lives. And here’s the crazy part… we don’t know where that is yet!

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The Gospel According to Doctor Strange

The Gospel According to Doctor Strange

13 Mar , 2017 No Comments

Before kids, I used to watch a ton of movies. These days I have to be a bit more selective. Movies tend to be more of a way to relax than to ponder life deeply, but I was surprised to find myself reflecting on the recent movie Doctor Strange. This movie is part of the Marvel universe and I actually knew next to nothing about it before seeing it. However, this is a beautiful story in which the gospel emerges in numerous different ways.

Doctor Strange begins the movie as a narcissistic surgeon. While we may not have his talents or his money, most of us can relate with his natural desire to think first of himself. Early on he gets confronted with this in order for him to develop in new ways.

The Ancient One: Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all.

Dr. Stephen Strange: Which is?

The Ancient One: It’s not about you.

Sounds like something Jesus said in Luke 9:23. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Indeed, this might just be the simplest and most significant lesson for each of us to learn.

But hands down my favorite part was toward the end. *If you haven’t seen the movie, I’m about to give you a spoiler so keep this post in your browser and go watch the movie first if you want to be surprised.*

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How to Survive a Shipwreck

How to Survive a Shipwreck

06 Mar , 2017 No Comments

I had marked Jonathan Martin’s book How to Survive a Shipwreck as one to read for months before I actually did. Martin writes as a prophetic poet. At times it seems he speaks another language entirely. One you can recognize but often don’t know how to speak. The transparency and vulnerability in which he tells his journey invites all of us to seek God in an authentic way. Martin walks the reader through how to journey with God through the heartbreaking seasons in your life.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

The waters that drown are the waters that save.

There is no going back down the birth canal when the Spirit of life is pushing you forward, despite yourself.

There is nothing quite so scary as the Holy Ghost, because we intuitively know that to make room for this Spirit is to make room for our own upending.

On the other side of the storm that tears you to pieces is a capacity to love without doubt, to live without fear, to be something infinitely more powerful than the man or woman you were before it happened.

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Not All Solutions are Equal

Not All Solutions are Equal

27 Feb , 2017 No Comments

This past weekend I spoke at my friend Trevor’s church in Mason, Ohio. They’ve been doing a series this month on my book Redeeming Pleasure, and I had the chance to preach the last weekend. I brought books with me to sell but needed to stop by my bank to get cash for it. Specifically, I needed $5s and $10s to make change for people. When I Googled to find the nearest Wells Fargo branch, I was disappointed to learn they had all permanently closed within a few hours drive. My friend Caleb was with me so I asked if we could use his bank. The only problem was that all of his bank’s branches were about to close early for the day since it was Saturday.

That left us with a more creative option, to go to Walmart and get cash back from a purchase. I walked up to an employee and explained what I was trying to do and asked if she’d be able to give me cash back in certain denominations. She looked confused and told me she couldn’t open a drawer to see what was in it till I made a purchase. I asked her which drawer she’d been using and what she thought might be in it. I told her I was from out of town and couldn’t get cash from my bank. She then asked me what bank I use. When I told her it was Wells Fargo, she said they didn’t have any nearby. Yes, I’m aware of that. Hence why we are having this discussion.

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Jesus Isn’t Just for Christians

22 Feb , 2017 No Comments

Photo Credit: Sébastien Thibault

We’ve been in a month-long series at Central on peace and I taught the third installment of it last weekend (see: Eating with Enemies). The response I’ve seen so far is overwhelmingly positive. Many people have told me this has been some of the most eye-opening conversations about faith they’ve ever had.

But as should be expected, not everyone agrees on this discussion. In reading through the pushback we’ve received, I’ve noticed that most of the comments focus on Muslims. Essentially, the argument is that they are so bad they should be exempt from enemy love. One person even compared it to us telling people to love the Ku Klux Klan.

I have a few thoughts on this. First, what was happening in Rome when Jesus and His disciples taught and modeled how to love enemies rivals anything the Muslim world has produced then or now. The early church lived in a culture that tortured and killed Christians for the amusement of the majority, so it’s hard to see how we might find exceptions today. There are great expressions of Islam in the world today and there are horrific versions of it too (as is true of almost any group of people).

Loving enemies doesn’t validate their actions, it validates our faith in Jesus. In addition, Jesus gave us no qualifying terms on who this enemy love applies to and who it doesn’t. There are no conditions which must be met before we act. Therefore, love everyone. (more…)

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Eating with Enemies

20 Feb , 2017 No Comments

This weekend I got to preach what has become one of my favorite passages, Matthew 5:43-45. My main idea was that if we won’t trust Jesus as a practical teacher, we can’t trust Him as a spiritual savior. When it comes to how we should practically treat those around us, Jesus instructs us to love both our neighbors and our enemies. And in case you were wondering, this encompasses everyone!

Here are some of the key points from the message:

  • You can always find a reason not to treat others as your neighbor.
  • Loving enemies will always cost you something.
  • You can decide to treat people as your enemy, but Jesus won’t do it with you.

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