Stone Jars
I have been thinking lately about stone jars. Stone jars figured prominently in the gospel text for the Second Sunday of Epiphany, read all around the world a few weeks ago. I was visiting friends and colleagues in India at … (read more)
commissioned living
Why?
There are many adequate reasons for following Christ into the world, in lives of commissioned service. I have found through the years, however, that they are not equally compelling. The sheer need of the world that surrounds us ought to … (read more)
World
In recent months we have described a handful of elements at the heart of our missionary community. We are a community at work – Kingdom work, whatever our trade or profession (November 2009). Our work is our witness – the … (read more)
Word
Theologians will sometimes describe a “formal” and a “material” principle that beat at the heart of the Protestant Reformation. The “material” principle is, in a sense, the content of the Reformation: its basic teachings and program – and in particular … (read more)
Witness
Our western church, as we mentioned last month, is absolutely awash in old-fashioned philosophical dualism. At a deep, mostly unconscious level, we have come to picture the world in terms of “sacred” and “secular,” “spiritual” and “material” – two vast, … (read more)
Work!
I remember the scene quite clearly. Nathan, my son, was approximately eight years old – now more than twenty years ago. He and I were participating in some gathering of his young friends. It was a group of Cub Scouts, … (read more)
Missionized
New Testament people are a wonderfully unusual bunch. Not perhaps for the way they look. Not for the way they dress or the things they do or say. They are unusual for who they are — for their basic … (read more)
Whatever it Takes…
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) We have been building, here in Minneapolis. Our praying friends may have noticed: in the last year we have deconstructed and reconstructed our lovely old Mission Home on … (read more)