I went from attending a private Christian school to a public middle school in the 8th grade.
Suddenly I was the “new kid” at school.
I didn’t already have friends at my new school—I didn’t know people there (yet).
Soon, some pot-smoking skateboarders welcomed me, included me, and wanted me to be part of their group.
I wasn’t a big pot-smoker at that time… Read More
Celebrity worship is a thing.
Just like social media addiction is a thing, there is a newly identified psychological condition: Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS).
Sure, it’s been going on for years in our culture. I’m sure you’ve seen old footage of the Beatles playing a concert with their frenzied fans entranced in worship… Read More
I wish we Christians would be weird differently.
We’re all weird. I am, that’s for sure.
People generally think I’m weird when I talk about not liking white things that spread (mayo, miracle whip, sour cream, cream cheese).
Nobody agrees with me when I say, “I don’t like Tom Hanks as an actor.” Instead, people walk away thinking, “That guy is weird.”
And then I have this thing where I enjoy sleeping in jeans – not all the time, but sometimes it’s nice. My wife really thinks this is weird.
But I’m not talking about that kind of weird today.
Everybody has quirks. We’d all be pretty robotic and boring without our little idiosyncrasies.
I’m taking aim at Christians (in the U.S.) in general. We are known for certain patterns of weirdness… Read More
Many of you know I wrote a book this summer and am in the process of trying to get myself a literary agent (if you are related to an amazing literary agent, please hook a brotha up). Anyway, this week, I thought it would be fun to do a little sneak peek chapter leak…
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Life with God is easier than we think. Most of us are simply trying too hard. We’re straining and we’re stressing, but all that effort is for nothing.
God doesn’t want your works, He wants you.
And there’s more… Read More
I used to believe it was OK to have enemies.
Because Jesus said to love them, bless them, pray for them… I kinda took it as permission to collect ‘em.
Like Jesus was saying, “It’s OK to call people or groups of people your enemies.”
But I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t believe it’s OK to collect or have enemies.
Here’s what I mean… Read More
NOTE: I decided to add on a little bit to last week’s 3-part series “Stuff I Don’t Believe Anymore.” I guess this makes it a 4-part series now…
I used to be in the river.
And by “In the river,” I mean I was a participant in revival / renewal / river whatchamacallit. Yeah, I was in a church that had chofars and streamers and banners and dancers… Read More
Growing up in Pentecostal church, I picked up on this idea: Catholics aren’t Christians. The typical charges against them were things like praying to Mary, worshiping the Pope, praying to the saints, and elevating the teachings of saints and church leaders to the same level as Scripture. They also had cool necklaces – and I wanted to wear one.
And then there were the wild accusations from the end-times obsessed folks, claiming the current Pope is most definitely, 100% for sure, obviously THE Antichrist (these guys are still doing this too).
I was smart enough to detect the crazy on the doomsday prophets, but the underlying message “Catholics aren’t Christians” stuck with me. When you hear something enough times, you just begin to believe it.
So I believed Catholics aren’t Christians… Read More
When I was in first grade, one of the kids in my class told me how girls get pregnant. Before this, I hadn’t given it much thought. But now I knew the facts of life because Steven explained them to me. Here’s what he said:
If you look at a girl’s belly button, she’ll get pregnant.
I took it as a warning. And for a while, I was pretty concerned that I might accidentally see a girl’s belly button and get her pregnant… Read More
There is a notable trend in the modern church today…
It’s a shift away from the blatant prosperity “God wants you to be rich” teaching towards this modified variation of it: “God wants you to be cool and successful.”
People feel cooler because they attend a cool church with a cool band and a super-cool pastor who hangs out with loads of really cool people.
There’s no need to always be talking about money – that’s passé now… Read More
Last week, I noticed this Tweet from a local Christian celebrity:
“I like guns, sports, red meat, cage fighting and yelling. It’s called being a man. Deal with it Seattle.”
Honestly, it annoyed me. Why?
Because it’s a reduced, overly-simplified, single story of what being a real man is all about – and it implies that Seattle-area males fit into a different single story (they’re vegan pansies).
I resist this type of single story because I know it does not represent the whole truth. Not even for the guy tweeting it. I believe he also has a gentle, romantic, peaceful, kind, and compassionate side – that is just as fully “man” as his testosterone-laden self-description.
Here’s how I scored on the 5 things you’re supposed to like in order to be called a man… Read More
