Few things illustrate an integrated life like youth soccer, and I love how youth soccer illustrates how much I have to learn from the youth.
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Iain’s observation, which helped me walk away from an unhealthy separation of my Great Commission life from my Normal Life, was that mentoring is something that happens best within the context of friendship. And we embodied mentorship and friendship in a way that became more clear to me. We had both, at the same time.
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I loved all the conversations and prayers and moments of realizing that Denise was right: discipleship begins in the home. But discerning what to do next is another matter entirely.
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What if the Great Commission included all these dirty diapers? What if the Great Commission is about this family, and this giant pile of laundry, and our neighbors, and the people at work, and our small group, and church? Why do we have to stop our Normal Life, go do some amazing Great Commission Thing somewhere far away, and then come back to our Normal Life?
Read MoreOur pursuit of food has shaped the evolution of our sensory apparatus—the very tools through which we, as a species, perceive the world. The choices we make every day about food selection, preparation, and consumption lie at the foundation of our identities and relationships and affinities. As the Italian historian Massimo Montanari succinctly put it, food is culture.
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The season of Lent is an annual reminder of all the things Jesus doesn’t do, and I need it every year, because every year I lose sight of how Jesus doesn’t conquer my problems, or me, or the things I think are my enemy.
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Today we’re going to compare news headlines from The New York Times and Fox News, because today is Love One Another Thursday.
You might be more familiar with the Latin name for today: Maundy Thursday. Back when the Church used Latin all the time, “Maundy” was the shorthand title for “Maundatus Novum,” which is Latin for “New Commandment.” What is the “new commandment” to which this Thursday points?
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Today is Palm Sunday, the day when we remember how God’s people were so focused on what they WANTED God to do for them, that it kept them from seeing what God was ACTUALLY DOING with them.
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I wrote these prayers for my diverse group of friends, scattered around the globe, to help us all remember that we are not alone, and to help us walk through this season together and with Jesus who loves us and keeps us. Also, candidly, writing these prayers also helps me reflect on the joys and the struggles of the last two weeks, to help me remain connected to the incredible emotional rollercoaster of this pandemic.
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“Would anyone come to a 6:15 am Bible study?” was the question we asked ourselves in September. 7 months later….
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Before we go any further down this road of change, of uncertainty, of worry and turmoil, let’s pause and reflect on our very recent past.
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Americans, on the whole, don’t know how to lament together very well.
In fact, odds are good that, as you read that last sentence, you thought, “Lament. That’s a weird word. I wonder what Matt means by ‘lament’.” Well, thank you for asking. I mean the actual basic definition: To mourn aloud. Americans don’t often mourn aloud together, particularly in ways that are helpful to the aloud mourners and their friends.
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Discipleship feels a lot like Driver’s Education.
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“Don’t come to the Lighthouse Mission because you have something to give to our Guests. Wait until you’re open to discovering what you have to receive from our Guests.”
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The best advice I can give you is to go adopt a kid with special needs, because having a kid with special needs has made me more patient, made me slow down and pay attention to the person who is right in front of me, made me listen to the child that I have rather than the child I wished I’d had, and made me look at my own failures and still love myself and my family.
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Would you like to guess what prayer request I hear from the Guests at the Lighthouse Mission the most?
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I want to be a part of services where the pace of the worship can shift depending on who’s there and what they need, where the teaching integrates a variety of learning styles (because everyone can teach and everyone can learn), and where friendships that don’t naturally happen in our culture can flourish.
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As we approached the end of Advent, we continued to put ourselves in the Christmas Story by playing Follow the Leader.
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For younger children, this Advent I’ve been talking about playing Follow The Leader.
I’ve enjoyed framing what we do through the game Follow The Leader, as it’s helped younger kids latch onto the reason why we do the things we do around Advent.
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But before this next transition point comes and goes, I wanted to pause and take stock of where we’ve been. Like a long hike, we’re standing at a ridge, and I want to gather everyone together and capture this moment.
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