Category archives: Together with Jesus on Sunday

What I learned About the Church From a Little Group of Introverts

God has been tucking something into my heart for quite some time, regarding the Church, and I’m only just now able to put it into words. I’ve been asking Him for a while to let me be a small part in the healing of His people. You know, the folks who know Him and love Him. Who follow Him, claim His Name and seek community within the body of believers. Growing up in the Church, I’ve noticed a fair amount of fracturing and isolation among its members and I know Jesus well enough to understand that this ought not to be so. I’ve also been blessed to experience the warmth of deep friendships with other believers, the kind where you walk away with this profound sense that you are both intimately known and unconditionally loved. Which, as we all know, is hard to find in a world that measure[...]

Remedy for a Restless Heart

I’ve got this restless heart. There are days when I’m home with my kids and I’m literally wading through the toys in the kitchen floor to get to the fridge. Everyone is falling apart and I’m trying to teach the little folks how to love each other. I’m explaining to the oldest that he doesn’t have to boss his sister and monitor everything she does. And I’m trying to teach the sister to pay attention but she doesn’t hear me because she’s pretending. And I’m encouraging the littlest fella not to whack his siblings over the head with the trains and that he doesn’t have to tear through the kitchen like a maniac, yelling “MINE!” at the top of his lungs because seriously, no one even wants his sippie cup. When all this is happening, and I’m exhausted from the chaos and the mess, I usual[...]

When You Wonder What God's Will is for Your Life

I talked to a few different friends this weekend. Each of them were coming up on major life decisions. And all three of them happened to be believers, meaning, they each had a relationship with God and some kind of notion that God cares about them individually and is somewhat involved in the details of their lives. But they all three carried that same angst in their voice. I recognized that angst because I've had it, too. You know, when you've done your part--you've prayed and you've sought and you've gone knocking on God's door and then you're just standing there waiting and wondering and you seriously wish God would just spell things out to you in the sky. That would sure be nice of Him. For some reason, He doesn't do that. Now, there are a few times, perhaps, for some peop[...]

If You've Been Burned By Religion

Some of you have been pretty beat up by religion. You went to church, but church was mostly rules. Mostly a list of do’s and dont's and acceptance was based on how well you were performing. Somehow for the life of you, you never could perform well enough. Some of you have been pretty disappointed by Christians down at the church house. Maybe church was just a thing to do on Sunday. You wear these clothes that look nice. You smile at folks. You stare at the guy in front doing all the talking. You sing some songs. You act like you’re all fine. And then you walk out the door and nobody has a clue what sort of hell you just came from. Some of you have become a bit skeptical. Religion is for those who need to self-medicate, perhaps. It’s an opiate for those who can’t deal with the p[...]

For the Feelers and the Bruised Up: A Way to Overcome

On Sundays, here at the blog, my heart is bent toward the ones who have been bruised up. The ones who’ve been a little disillusioned, perhaps, by Christianity or the church but who still have a faint glimmer of interest in Jesus and who are willing to come to Him, but with reservations. Is He real? Is He good? Does He care? Plenty of folks have been battered by life and by religion and it’s especially hard to overcome, I think, if you’re a sensitive person. I don’t know about you, but I walk around in life feeling just about everything. It’s easy for me to feel overwhelmed as I enter into another person’s joy and pain. I don’t really know any other way. I know what it is to feel torn between the tension within. On the one hand, I am so deeply impacted by beauty and live[...]

Jesus and the Desert Dude

There was this rugged desert dude in the Bible who turned out to be quite the preacher man. He had some earthy clothes made out of camel's hair. And an awesome beard, I'm sure. And probably some dreads because I don't think they made hair brushes in the desert back then. Though, he might have brushed his hair with a cactus. But, probably not, seeing as that's a bad idea. He ate gnarly food. Like crunchy grasshoppers. Which he most likely dipped in honey so they wouldn't taste so grasshopperly. This rugged desert dude's name was John, and he believed the whole point of his earthly existence was to point people to Jesus. (He very much believed Jesus was the remedy for the human condition.) So, everyday, after his grasshopper and wild honey breakfast, John would stand out there in t[...]

When You've Been Badly Broken

On Sundays, I write to the badly broken. Those who have been bashed to pieces with the Bible and spiritually abused by the church. (Lord, please give me bread for my friends. Tend to their hearts. Bind up their wounds. Somehow use these words to nourish them. Let them feel the tenderness of You, Jesus. In Your Name I ask. Amen.) Some of you have been battered by the super spiritual people. Maybe it was your pastor. Or the folks down at the church house. Maybe it was your Christian parents. Or a teacher. Either way, you’re a bit gun shy when it comes to religious things and you’re not to blame for it. I talked with a girl this week who was severely abused in so many ways by her momma and still is, though she’s all grown up and has a family of her own. Her momma took the Bible a[...]

On Jesus and Family and Cussing in Church

When I was about four years old, I was in this foster home. See, my birth mom was a drug addict, an alcoholic and a prostitute and my birth dad was all those things, too. Well, minus the prostitute part. I don't think he got paid, but he had his porn magazines and I remember the hotel rooms and the other women. Anyways, me and my little brother were in and out of foster homes and I have this vivid memory of the first time I went to church. That foster momma must have been spiritual because she took us to church each Sunday and probably on Wednesday nights, too. There I was about three feet tall, standing in church when everybody else started singing. Only problem was I couldn't exactly read those words out of that song book yet, and I didn't know what I was supposed to be singing[...]

When You Need to Skip Church (So You Can Be Church)

Hi, friend. So, I come to you on a Sunday full of sunlight. There's a ditch close by, adorned in Queen Ann's lace and chicory, the last bit of summer's glory, and I come wanting to nourish your soul. I'm very aware that I don't have everything figured out. I'm also aware that I've got these ways I fail--that I come up short. But, I've lived long enough to know that most of life is a bunch of struggling along and showing up and feeling like a dufus and then getting up the next day and trying again. The purpose of this Sunday blog is to share Jesus with those that are interested in Him, but have been wounded by the Church somehow. I want to talk to you because I know that you like Jesus but you despise religion. I get that. I don't have much, but I have a story. Sometimes a [...]

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