Blogging Posts

Do We Agree on Easter and Christmas?

Do We Agree on Easter and Christmas?

I spent this week with a group of pastors I’ve met with for years now. We gather twice a year and share the highs and lows of ministry and life in general. My dad leads the group and invited his friend Joe Tosini (back right in the picture) to join us for an afternoon.

Joe has lived an unbelievable life. He’s written bestselling books, started massively successful churches, been on Oprah, and become friends with Pope Francis. Now in his seventies, Joe leads a ministry simply referred to by Jesus’ prayer in John 17. That’s where Jesus prays these words:

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

John 17:21

Their goal is unity in the church and they specifically work to bring Catholic and Protestant pastors together. One of the phrases that God spoke to Joe throughout his life is that Jesus is not a polygamist. There is only one church and we would do well to act like it.

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Who Can (and Should) We Learn From?

A few weeks ago I spoke at a church and closed with a quote from Sarah Bessey. One of the volunteers in that church loved the quote and was talking about it with others when she decided to Google Sarah’s name to find out more about her. She then had a few questions after realizing Sarah’s theology may be more different from her own than she realized (and was a bit uncomfortable with it).

The pastor of the church relayed this story to me and we had a great discussion that anyone who communicates publicly for a living understands. Every person you quote comes with a risk. I know pastors who don’t share their personal reading list of books to avoid comments from others. Or just watch what happens if a pastor mentions the name Rob Bell (I once got reprimanded by a church member for simply following him on Twitter).

The safest way is to never quote anyone. But this comes at a loss for the community itself. The church then becomes an echo chamber of repeating ideas and reinforcing what is already believed. It’s essentially the same formula for a cult.

The question behind this discussion boils down to this: Who can (and should) we learn from?

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The Weird People at Disneyland

The Weird People at Disneyland

Michelle and I have spent the last few days around the wonder that is Disneyland. I’m a trustee with Hope International University and we have a board meeting today and a fundraising dinner tonight. Both of those are happening at the Disneyland Resort so Michelle and I decided to add a night to the trip and do a park hopper ticket yesterday. Our hotel is within walking distance of the parks and connects to Downtown Disney.

This means… we’ve seen a lot of weird Disney people.

You know what I’m talking about. People who buy things and wear things they’ll likely never bring out again until their next park visit. Giant mouse ears, lightsabers, helmets, and all sorts of other accessories you tend not to see adults wearing. Many people bemoan Disneyland for this effect on people.

I think it’s a good thing.

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What Our Superheroes Say About Us (And Why We Probably Don’t Need Another Batman)

You’ve probably imagined which superpower you’d choose if ever the option presented itself. For me it would be flying. I can’t even imagine how cool that would be to experience, let alone how efficient it would make travel.

You may not know that Superman originally could NOT fly. When he was created in 1938 this wasn’t on his original roster of skills. Evidently he wasn’t even all that good at jumping.

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2021 Reading List – 3/4

2021 Reading List – 3/4

Fall is in the air… finally. If you live somewhere that has seasons, you’re likely enjoying the beauty of the leaves changing all around you. Where I live in Arizona I can finally walk my dog in the morning and not die of sweat.

Here are the books I’ve read since January of 2021 with my rating for them (5 being the best) along with a brief review. Any book without a number rating has been given to me by the author or publisher.

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Useless Space

Useless Space

Our family is back in Arizona after spending the last few weeks in Oregon. Before we left we stopped by a Starbucks that had a path into the forest behind it. Naturally, I had to take the kids on a little exploration walk to find out where the path went. Much to our enjoyment, we got to walk across a super cool bridge over a river and through a meandering forest. There were a few signs along the way and one of them caught my attention.

On it I read these words:

“Sweek Pond is one of several small wetlands nestled within Tualatin’s urbanized landscape. Often dismissed as ‘useless’ lands, these pockets of natural vegetation provide critical habitat for many animal species.”

The phrase “useless lands” stood out to me after the beauty I had just walked through. Who on earth would call this beauty useless? Yet the more I thought of it, the more I realized why someone would say that. There isn’t a lot you can do in the middle of wetlands.

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