I have spent most of my life saying, “I’m spiritual, not religious.” As far back as I can remember, I’ve decried the evils of religion, saying it was dead or diseased, and stood in solidarity with others who felt the same. I’ve called religion evil, corrupt, and systems of man that poison the systems of God. I’m beginning to think …
Heaven as an Ocean Surf
Have you ever stood on an ocean beach and felt an electric charge as another world brushed against your skin? Or stood in a forest and felt the thinness of reality, knowing there was something so much more hovering just out of view? Have you ever walked down the street or through the mall at Christmas time, taken in the …
Kickstarting Jonah
Hey everybody! Today I wanted to talk to you about something that I’ve been working on over the past 31 days. (Wow. Time flies.) Probably many of you have heard already, but for those who haven’t I have undertaken the task of Kickstarting Jonah. The Fish in Jonah’s Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon) is live for the next 9 …
Living in Intentional Grace
Have you ever screwed up so badly that you knew the only way it’d get fixed was if God did it? I have. Just a couple weeks ago, actually. And then there was the matter of one of my best friends dying. I failed my friend repeatedly during the last months or even 1-2 years of his life. But what …
There is Hope
It would be so easy to give up. To stop caring, to stop trying, to just throw in the towel and say, “I’m done.” To give in to who the culture wants you to be. To admit that you — or even humanity as a whole — has been defeated. To decide you’ll never be whole or healthy or victorious …
Prayer Update 14
Here we have it, my friends: a new prayer update! Let’s get praying! (To view previous prayer updates, check out the archive here. To check out the prayer list, click here.) First, when last I released a prayer update I added a new name a day or two after on Facebook and the actual post. The problem was, a lot …
The Fish in Jonah’s Puddle – Part Nine
THE STORY SO FAR: Jonah’s parents were eaten by a demon. He wants to get them back. So, together with his friends Stuart, a talking salmon, Humphrey, a bowtie and bowler-bedecked troll, and Calisto, a testy harpy, he’s out to do just that. He and his friends have been puddle-jumping between dimensions (literally) to find a means of defeating the …
God’s Glory in a Seashell
Deep in the twilight realms of the ocean glides a mysterious, marvelous monstrosity. Up to 43 feet long (though lengths of up to 59 feet have been reported) with eyes the size of dinner plates, its bouquet of pulsing, writhing tentacles contains hundreds of suction cup suckers through which it tastes its prey. Its only known enemy is the sperm whale, …
Your Best Life is Striving
I recently saw a post from a dear friend who said that it was impossible for us to live our best lives now, and that we wouldn’t receive the fullness of God’s blessing until we got to Heaven. Now, I understand what she was saying. I recognize that she is probably not Joel Osteen’s biggest fan. I also know that …
The Audacity of Hope
Back in October of last year I was invited to talk to the Puyallup chapter of Aglow International. I had recorded the whole thing on my little GoPro, but then it just kind of sat there. And sat there. Until now. This weaves together my story with Psalms 42-43 and some thoughts on hope. I call it “The Audacity of …