(Some of the following are great choices if God leads you to make them on a personal level. The problem comes in when we believe they are automatically better for everyone and the standard for maturity in Christ. Confession: I listen to Christian music and hate gory movies. -JP) Everyone knows Christians are supposed to love […]
Pilgrim’s Regress
Today I, Richard Demsick, am going on a pilgrimage with my wife. No, we aren’t going to wear funny hats and have dinner with native Americans. Well we might be wearing funny hats, but they will be Kippahs because we are going to Israel. That’s right, a fool is traveling to the Holy Land, where […]
Do You Really Love Me?
Sometimes we love people close to us so much we forget to love them. I know. I’m guilty of it. When Jesus met Peter on the beach over brunch of broiled fish and a toasty fire, after that awkward “Do-I-know-you” head tilt move at Jesus in Pilate’s courtyard, he had only one question. He asked […]
Why Your Church is Run Poorly
The First Administrator If there is anything I have been criticized for in my approach to church it is administration. After being told enough times that you are bad at administration you start to believe it. You don’t question the understanding of administration, and what makes a good administrator, when the world seems to hold […]
1984: What Do You Know?
1984: Do You Know Big Brother? Book Review In a future not far from today, a poster lines the city streets, cameras on every corner. The poster; the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features, and the words “Big Brother is Watching You”. I don’t know […]
Father to the Fools: The King of Resolutions
Happy New Year Welcome to 2014 a year of change, or at least we hope so. We all want change in our life in one category or another. We know that we are not the people we could or maybe even want to be. Which means now is the time for resolutions, primarily maybe; I […]
Is Your Church Pointless?
Sometimes I think the church doesn’t realize it’s supposed to have a point. Like, what is the point, really? Friendship, community, love, encouragement, all those gushy answers sound nice, but only one really pulls it all together — to reach maturity in Christ. Colossians says to become “complete in Christ.” So for all you resolution junkies […]
Unhappy Holidays
Iridescent lights, red and green, glow on the tree. Presents overflow underneath it in bright, shiny wrapping. It’s Christmas Eve, and I’d broken the rules and snuck down to see the tree in the middle of the night to catch a glimpse. It’s beautiful. The strangest thing happened during the night, which sends goosebumps down […]
An Entitled Christmas
Entitled: to bestow on someone rank or title Today we don’t care much for titles. We wish to remove them in the name of equality. We still have, of course, some remnants from our former archaic system. Words like landlords hint to a time of lords and ladies. Now we don’t want any form or […]
Buying Debt for Christmas
Time to Buy It is Christmas time, which can mean only one thing…time for Christmas lists. They say it is the season for giving but it can often just seem like the season of buying. This year for the first time I went out thursday night for Black Friday shopping. Black Friday which is now […]