christianity Deconstruction: Years in the [Bre]aking Photo by Rye Jessen I’d thought my deconstruction process only began in earnest about a year ago. I thought that of course it would line up conveniently with the separation. But when is deconstruction ever convenient? Or neat and tidy? I said “the
community On Being Real and Heartbreak My heart is heavy as I sit down to type this. I do not know how to relate to you this story, nor do I feel joy in its telling. But I feel this is the story I need to tell today; the real,
community Fear: Constant Enemy, Silent Killer Fear, it’s something I deal with everyday. It’s something I’m aware of at every moment; deep down I know it has it out for me. I’ll
community More on Purpose: Cleaning My Glasses and Faith I’ve had my glasses less than a year, so I still occasionally get compliments about them and I don’t mind them much yet. But for someone who can be OCD, glasses are a terrible thing; how does anyone keep the lenses clean
busy The Curious Case of Busyness I wish I had a conclusion to this post, but I’m really just jotting down some thoughts on the idea of busyness as a means of putting those thoughts
community Stress and the Months of Darkness I don’t know where to begin, as it’s been…too long. So, like any good writer, I’ll start in the middle. I’ve been struggling to put words to paper (screen) for over two months, because I’ve been unwilling to
community Relationships Are About Community Sorry I’ve been incommunicado, friends. Life (as a whole) has been rather hectic and busy as of late. It seems this blog and my quiet times are the first things to go, and that’s a shame. But one thing that has kept
christmas Hope of a God with Us: Emmanuel So at the risk of sounding like Scrooge, is there anyone else out there who finds the chaos of the season makes it a little more difficult to enjoy the holidays? Maybe? Well, for the one other out there, you know that once Thanksgiving
church Essentials of Faith: Community I have some great friends. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for these people, but I know I’m not grateful enough. For encouragement, reproach, joy, sadness, community, this group of friends, is essential. The life of faith is bound to
community Opposition Is Inevitable I face opposition and my immediate response is to back off or stop whatever it is that I’m doing. I don’t want to have to deal with this attack on me, so I turn tail and run. I wish I could give
Boston Hope for the New Week I think we can all agree last week was just a rough week. I don’t even want to name the events specifically right now, because it’s still rather fresh in my mind. But this time last week, I was away at a
community My Lonely Confession I counted last night and I’ve moved seven times in less than half as many years. I’m a nomad. I’m a vagabond. And I have to move one more time. However, this will be the move to end them all. For
Christian life People. Life Is About the People In the past three years, I’ve moved six times. I’ve been in four distinct locales. And I’m getting set to move again in the near future. You’d better believe I know that life can get lonely. However, I’ve also
Christian life Why We Need Negative People In Our Lives We need negative people in our lives. Let that sink in. To be honest, I hate when someone tells me ‘no’ or that my idea is a bad one. Those of you saying “no idea is a bad one,” have obviously never met me.
brokenness Running for Comfort in Hypocrisy I don’t like being wrong. In fact, I hate it. Those of you who know me are undoubtedly chuckling at how true this statement is. The only thing that’s worse is when other people point out that I’m wrong or I
community Never Be Ready I was traveling up to Pennsylvania this weekend to visit my cohorts Erik and Jon. I’d decided to give the bus a try and maybe an hour into the ride, I’d realized I’d made a new friend. How the conversation with
change the world Who Is My Neighbor? A valid question that I’ve asked many times before this past Sunday. Little did I know a question seemingly so safe would be blown out of the water. However, in my quest to change the world, (yep, I’m still holding onto that
answer to prayer Prayer Will Save Christmas Merry Christmas Eve to most of you! Admittedly, friends, yesterday morning was a tough one for me. Staring up the face of a week long cliff of non-stop family and entertaining, culminating in my brother’s wedding, was a bit daunting to take in
community Community Is Learning How To Receive Community is learning how to receive. Last Monday, I talked about the broader issue that Community Is Threatening. Today, I want to focus on one side of that coin, the receiving within the context of community. Because, while we generally know we need some
cannot succeed alone Community Is Threatening Community is threatening. I was finishing up playing for the small crowd Friday night when the words, “Who’s here to see Cameron?” rung out. An overwhelming majority of the room raised their hand and in that moment I was both humbled and amazed.
character Every Good Story Needs Relationships Every good story needs relationships. What story, be it novel, movie, short, doesn’t have the protagonist relating with other characters? It just doesn’t happen. Likewise, we need people in our own stories. We need people to journey alongside us. However, this doesn’
community Father-Sized Wound Father-sized wound. That’s how each of us leaves our parents’ houses. No matter how great our dads were throughout our formative years, they’re not perfect and they were never meant to be. Our dads were only ever meant to be a human
change Friends Will Change You Friends will change you. I spent this past weekend up in New York celebrating a good friend’s birthday. It’s hard not to walk away from a weekend spent almost entirely with two other people feeling a little closer. Inevitably, this weekend like
anger Love Is Not Resentful Love is not resentful. Holding grudges is so 90s. Who really has the time for that? Especially with how busy everyone is, where is the time or the energy to waste on silly junk like that? These are a sampling of my reaction to
bible Christianity Is a Scary Beast Christianity is a scary beast. If you look at it as a code of conduct, immediately you are confronted with a shopping list of don’ts. If you look at it as a philosophy, well it is counter-intuitive in more ways than you have
