Is the church:  (A) series of bunkers, sheds and silos storing already-harvested grain  or  (B) an organic, open network of interconnected relationships? Of course, we know the answer is supposed to be [B].  However, [A] has often defined our functional reality. Dwight Friesen has written a book designed to expand our imaginations about the kingdom-shaped…

I’ve been blogging for over four years now. In that time, I’ve had two addresses, four jobs and three cars. I’ve written two books, lost a parent, added a new grandson to the family tree, been to Israel twice, joined Curves twice (sigh), and have attended three different churches.  What hasn’t changed in my life?…

Another book review today!  I have to put my own bias out here: I am not a fan of “relationship” books. After working in a bookstore off and on for 4 years, I concluded that this was a one-note genre. All the books seemed to have the same basic advice and tone, no matter what…

This is what a first draft looks like.  After a forty year hiatus, I took up knitting recently. I have no lofty goals for this new hobby – no wooly cable-knit sweater-cap combos. I just want to create a few handmade scarves to give as gifts to family and friends. Think etsy with training wheels. …

 Just weeks after the wedding last March, my new brother-in-law Larry was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent chemo and radiation throughout the remainder of 2009, and his docs told him there was no evidence of his cancer at the conclusion of his course of treatment. Just before Christmas, he contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized. Last…

Sometimes an overarching metaphor organizing a work of non-fiction can feel a little trite or forced. I admit that when I picked up Jason Dukes’ Live Sent: You are a letter and skimmed the chapter titles, I predicted the book would be a lightweight approach to the subject of missional living. I was wrong, wrong,…