Category: Religion
And There Was Great Rejoicing in Ongata Rongai
It was fitting that our first full day in Nairobi was a Sunday, a very necessary Sabbath after an eventful and far-from relaxing day of travel. After spending 16 hours in narrow metal canisters shooting...
‘Have no fear of sudden disaster’
A proverb: My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will...
Can we safeguard against bad missions?
Over the last few years, I’ve thought a fair amount about mission work – the opportunity, the necessity, the privilege, but also the evils and hurt of it. Many of those thoughts have bounced around again,...
Here at the start
I don’t expect to be in front of a computer this week, but I scheduled a few short posts in hopes of stirring you to thought and prayer. Today’s the day we touch down in...
Into Africa
You know that feeling when you’ve been talking about something for a long time, and then you actually get around to doing it? Knowing something is coming… waiting, preparing, waiting… then it comes? That’s happening...
Writing and listening after Ferguson
I tried to write about Ferguson. I tried five times. I sat down at my computer, reading and writing, reading and writing. Thinking of conversations I’d had, of classes I’d taken, of what my friends...
When something needs to change
I won’t forget those toys in the sandbox, the ones that looked like little compact excavators. A red excavator sat across from a yellow one, and I would sit on one and my brother would...
Not getting blind drunk doesn’t make you boring
Every year lists come out comparing American institutes of higher learning. Schools are judged on every possible level: test scores, cafeteria quality, standard of living, graduation rate, availability of professors, athletic programs, and a bunch...
Thoughts from My Mid-20s
I turned 25 last week. I’m neither thrilled nor disappointed. After 20, birthdays just sort of are. I don’t feel old at all, but I don’t feel especially young anymore either. It’s the feeling of...
30-Minute Church, and I’ll Have Fries with That
Church, the abridged version, isn’t a new idea. Churches have tried all kinds of adaptations to get bodies in the pews. Perhaps most famously, Mike Huckabee’s church tried a 30-minute service in 2008, “designed with...