Doctrines in the head, without holiness in the life, are of no service.
04094 – “Eastertide and an Expanding Christ”
Eastertide and an Expanding Christ If Silent Saturday belongs to those grieving the death of the only Jesus they have ever known, Eastertide (the fifty days following Easter) belongs to those who are open to experiencing Jesus differently than they ever have....
03991 – Compassion, not Control
Christmas reminds us that God didn’t become an emperor controlling an empire. God didn’t become a general commanding legions. God didn’t become a creed, a Bible, or a set of doctrines to be imposed. God became a helpless baby born to a poor family desperately in need...
03531 – Push Through to the Fire That’s Within
The religions start from mysticism...But, I compare this to a volcano that gushes forth ...and then ...the magma flows down the sides of the mountain and cools off. And when it reaches the bottom, it's just rocks. You'd never guess that there was fire in it. So after...
03483 – Orthodoxy vs. Orthopraxy
Religion without the Spirit, without authentic spirituality, basically becomes a way to give divine sanction/endorsement/legitimization to our biases and prejudices and it becomes a way to maintain the status quo. It also becomes a means of exerting control over...
03039 – God is Love
We all make errors in our theology; you and me both. So my recommendation is to err on the side of love. Why? Because...God is not doctrine. God is not denomination. God is not war. God is not law. God is not hate. God is not hell...God is love.
02461 – God is Not a Belief-System
God is not a belief-system. Jesus is not a religion. Christianity is not a check-list. Church is not an address. The Bible is not a book of doctrines. Community is not a meeting. Grace has no exceptions. Ministry is not a program. Art is not carnal. Women are not...
01319 – Doing the Gospel, Not Just Quoting It
Doing the Gospel rather than just quoting it was the best way I could find out what God was up to. I didn't believe in dragging souls into some special club of the saved... My only sense of "mission" now was to show others that they, too, could feed and touch and heal...
00859 – Music: A Powerful Tool
I am convinced that congregations learn more theology (good and bad) from the songs they sing than from the sermons they hear. Many sermons are doctrinally sound and contain a fair amount of biblical information, but they lack that necessary emotional content that...
00780 – Preferring Piety Over Spirituality?
The contemporary obsession with spirituality, among Christians and pagans alike, surely betokens something worthy of the church’s attention. I am not convinced, however, that the current vogue for spirituality should be embraced without making important historical and...