What Belongs to Caesar?

Last week at North, and this week at Spring Creek, I’m preaching on religious liberty, using an updated version of a sermon I preached two years ago at Houston International: “Show Me the Money!” Seventh-day Adventists have always been strong advocates of religious liberty for all, and strict separation of church and state (see Liberty…

Hunger: A Review

Seventh-day Adventists are starting to show an interest in spirituality. At least, that’s what you might get from articles like that by Rachel Davies announcing a new Spectrum series.  But as I’ve written elsewhere, Adventism has a rich heritage of well-grounded Biblical spirituality–even if we haven’t often used that word to define it. How should…

What’s a Megachurch?

Is it just a large church? Not according to Hartford Seminary researchers. To them, a megachurch has to be Protestant. And it has to meet these other criteria: … strong charismatic senior ministers, many associate pastors, large staff, robust congregational identity that empowers 100’s to 1000’s of weekly volunteers, an identity that draws people from…

Lenten Thoughts

[I posted these reflections on this blog on March 2, 2007. I knew at that point that I had to return to my roots. It would be another two months before I would quit my job, but I had put that in God’s hands and was praying for his guidance and wisdom as I made…

Anti-Muslim Hysterics

Drudge has a headline in red: “Five Muslim Soldiers Arrested at Fort Jackson.” The link goes to a story on a CBN blog post (Pat Robertson’s network) that claims it has the scoop on the story, that five Muslim soldiers were arrested two months ago for allegedly trying to poison the food supply at Fort…

Dale Fushek

One of the most read posts on this blog each week is one I wrote over two years ago about Dale Fushek, the founder of the Catholic youth program, LifeTeen. He was removed from ministry because of accusations of sexual misconduct, but started his own quasi-church. This led to his excommunication and, this week, his…

Spirituality and Spiritual Formation

The evangelical world is all abuzz about “spiritual formation” these days, thanks primarily to the work of Quaker writer Richard Foster. Courses in “spiritual formation” are taught in many evangelical seminaries. Books and articles abound, some suggesting that we haven’t paid enough attention to “spirituality.” Some act as if the traditions of the Reformation have…

Ash Wednesday

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to…

Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday (aka Shrove Tuesday and Carnival). It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent for Catholics, mainline Protestants, and increasing numbers of evangelicals. Lent (the word means “lengthening of days”–i.e., “Spring”) was originally intended by the early Catholic church as a 40-day period of fasting…