Spiritual, Connection, Online Church How Choosing Online Church Can Keep You Connected “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 Read More
Awareness, domestic violence Honoring Domestic Violence Awareness Month As a pastor, spiritual advisor, and member of both our NewChurch community and our local community, becoming aware of and learning about the issues that impact both individual members of our community and our community as a whole is an essential part of my role and life. For that reason, it’s... Read More
Community, Spiritual, Support, Connection 5 Ways of Seeking Spiritual Support and Community Connection In this journey of life there are many ups and downs, bumps in the road, and wonderfully joyous times. People often connect here at NewChurch Live when life is in the midst of one of those seasons. We wanted to offer you thoughts around the ways in which NewChurch Live can be a source of spiritual... Read More
Community, Support, Addiction Community Support for Families Struggling with Addiction There is little doubt that those of you reading this blog post today are impacted by addiction first-hand or are impacted by knowing friends or family who are in the midst of it. Read More
Gratitude What Does It Take to Be a Saint? We often think of Saints, paradoxically as models of the very best humanity has to offer, and often at the same time, as pretentious do-gooders who view with disdain the normal rough-and-tumble of modern life. Well, which is it? Read More
Love The Reality of Altruism On a recent podcast the author – a philosopher and pastor by trade – spoke to the three “Masters of Suspicion.” They were Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche. These three shared a deeply help suspicion that altruistic love neither did not nor could not form the ultimate reality of human life.For Karl Marx,... Read More
Faith Faith vs. Belief We love lists. One of the easiest parts of a conversation around church or religion is simply to list beliefs. Beliefs are no small things. Words become worlds. No space then to disparage or denigrate beliefs. And we need movement to more. We need faith. So, what is the difference between faith and... Read More
Hope God’s Holding in Hard Times For the original Christians, Easter with its eternal and sober rhythm of Death – Waiting – Resurrection far outweighed Christmas in the liturgical year. Many days I truly believe our Christian forebearers held it right – that the learning and lessons from Easter far outweigh the learning from... Read More
Uncategorized What Can We Do When the Opinions of Others Distress Us? We find ourselves surrounded by outrage. Moderating voices and temperaments often feel in short supply. Into that world, quieter voices flee. Louder voices grow ever more strident. So, what can do?Maybe we can consider new paradigms, new ways of holding others and the world – new ways that allow a... Read More
Support 5 Things You Can Call a Pastor for Help With When most people think of churches and Pastors, no doubt the focus is on Sunday. Yet with an average 50-hour work week, the Sunday service is just one part of what Pastor’s do. Read More
Connection How Can We Connect with Others Better? We crave connection. One form of counterfeit connection is more along the lines of projection, aligned around our effort to appear a certain way, to display our lives in a certain light however far that might indeed deviate from the reality of who we know ourselves to be. Read More
Summer, Patience How to Slow Down this Summer We crave slowing down. We yearn, most days, for a slower, more sustainable pace to our lives.How can then we learn to slow down this summer?We can find it by a practicing a daily Sabbath moment.Let’s begin with this – that slowing down is a command. God clearly commanded rest via the 4th of the... Read More
Awareness Strident vs. Grounded I read a fascinating question recently courtesy of author Andy Couch. He asked, “Are you more strident today than you were 10 years ago?” For the vast majority of respondents, the answer is “yes”. Couch’s working hypothesis is that our stridency increased proportionally with the growth of social... Read More
Patience Cleaning out the Closet Whether we are talking about a closet, a shed, or the basement, I imagine many of us witness the same process. Read More