My sister once told me that she had no idea when I'd get married (I'm sure my well-carved independence made many wonder if I ever would), but that when it did happen, it would go fast.

Still, this didn't seem to reduce my sister's confusion when--two days after I stepped off the plane from a three-month sabbatical in Australia--I announced to her that I was getting married. Had I been dating someone when I set off on my travels, it might not have seemed so ludicruous. But I hadn't been. In fact, I decided to skip the whole dating part entirely.

It all began at the Starbucks on 96th Street somewhere during the spring of my senior year of college.
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At my very core, I am an adventure seeker.  I don’t necessarily mean this in the sense that I enjoy action-packed theme park rides or death-defying undertakings.  In fact, I’m probably not your go-to person for stomach-turning, terror-evoking exploits.  But I do believe in exploring the unknown.  Perhaps this is because, as a Christian, I’ve endeavored to embrace Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19.  There, Jesus adjures the remaining eleven disciples to “go” and “make disciples of all nations.”   In considering this instruction and the individuals who have followed it, I have come to a certain understanding regarding the Christian life.  As a Christ follower, it seems that life sometimes includes taking risks, exploring uncharted avenues, and traveling to far-off places.  And even though I seek out and mostly enjoy all of these things, I occasionally have a longing (and even a need) to revisit familRead more

I’m going to go out on a prophetic limb here and state that the postmodern zeitgeist is hung over. Gone are the heady, intoxicated days of liberation from transcendent norms and meta-narratives. The all-too-early wake up call of a deep economic recession and Gulf ecological disaster has the next generation groggily taking stock of itself and it’s coming up all zeroes.
 
Teddy Thompson is the only son of British folk-rock legends Richard and Linda Thompson. Two summers ago, Teddy released A Piece of What You Need for Verve. My favorite track on the album is “Where To Go From Here,” partly for its gentle acoustic rhythm and brush-on-snare sound, partly for its existential angst that demonstrates my aforementioned point.
 
The safe lie of the in between
I never lose but never win
I wait at the edge of lifeRead more

Does a true Christian watch TV?  I'm hit with the question once again.  Intersecting with all the hubbub about the LOST series and its deeper meaning is the question some of us still raise, and one I haven't answered:  are we supposed to watch this stuff or not?

I was looking at Marva Dawn's book, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, last week while preparing for a sermon and was reminded that she doesn't watch TV.  I also read John Piper's reasoning behind rejecting TV: "Why I Don't Have a Television." 

When I was in seminary, my wife and I rejected TV one year for Lent.  It was the year that X-Files was at its peak, and was a favorite of ours.  We had decided we wouldn't watch TV, but we did allow ourselves to rent movies.  So here's how we did it...Read more

I recently had the privilege of performing with Sandra McCracken her new album, “In Feast or Fallow”, for her cd release show in Nashville.  If you aren’t familiar with her music, do yourself a favor and check it out on iTunes or visit her website, www.sandramccracken.com. You will not be disappointed. This is her latest project comprised of mostly old hymns, which you likely haven’t heard, set to new music.
            For the record, this is not a review. The project is amazing and beautifully done on every level from writing and arranging to producing and mixing.  But, my interest is in communicating that my heart is stirred by this album.Read more