In Silencio Dei

“Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. (1 Samuel 8:6-7 ESV) It seems for all of our advancements in science, technology and understanding the world around us we as God's people can still fall into the same traps Israel did 3000 years ago. Some Personal Context I'm going to be highlighting a problem I see with the structure of the church, but I want to be clear about one thing upfront. I love Christ. I love the gospel and the kingdom of God. And I love the church. I love the people of God and the ministers that serve. There isn't another organization on the planet that has done more to help mankind than the Christian church. You won't find more honest, loving people than those that know Jesus Christ personally and strive to make his name famous in the world. The church is f

Do you remember playing with Chinese fingers traps as a kid? I can't be certain when or to whom but I'm pretty sure I made one of my cousins cry when they placed their fingers inside only to realize to their horror that they couldn't get them out. Ah, the joys of being an older child. If you don't remember, these toys they are small tubes woven out of something fiberous - usually bamboo. The trick is once you put your fingers inside and try to pull them out the tube constricts. The more you pull the tighter the trap gets. It's only by relaxing and pushing your fingers together that the trap can fall off. By the way if you didn't know this secret and I spoiled the surprise I sincerely apologize and would also like to know what it feels like to be seven years old. :) As I stated in my last post I believe the gospel of Jesus is very simple. I understand it as God coming down to man to demonstrate empathy and compassion on us while we experience the growing

I've been in a two year process of deconstructing my faith. I've been doing some deep soul-searching to understand what it is I really believe. I've been raised in an evangelical, charismatic tradition my entire life and have always felt I understood the gospel of Jesus. And then something wonderful happened that transformed my head knowledge into heart knowledge. I no longer believed in God's love with just my head; I believed in God's love with my heart. Since that time I've been trying to understand why I didn't see and experience this before and why those around me haven't seemed to experience this either (or perhaps they have but I was unaware of it). Now that I've had some time in solitude I think I found a key to something that might be missing to our understanding in what it means to be "saved." Bear with me for a second as I sketch in broad strokes and forgo some details. I think one of the main points of the Protestant Reforma

The link below is a sermon given by Paul Washer. Beloved, may our thinking never be prideful enough to compare our paltry garden to the majesty of the king's forest. Neither let us be meager enough to forget how the much his heart delights in the fruit we grow for him.

As we wrap up 2014 and look towards 2015 I find myself reflecting on where life has gone during these twelve months. While I've had some high points (like losing 50 pounds) to be frank this year has been thematically marked by pain, depression and loneliness. A new job assignment that is not going well. Multiple family deaths, the most recent being my grandmother. Terminal illness in other relatives. Marginalization by those who share my faith. And a very Merry Christmas to you, sir. Throughout these long days I've looked inward and outward desperately searching for God in the midst of all this. Where are you in all this pain? Why can't I sense your presence? Why can't I feel your peace? Have you abandoned me? When I search the Bible for hope I find passages that speak to the goodness of God. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 Never will I leave; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5 You will see

During my fourteen years working as a software engineer I've been a part of various teams. Most have been healthy groups working with wonderful people while others have been less than ideal. Recently I joined a new team and was a bit surprised by one of the first assignments. My manager gave us a copy of Zingerman's Guide to Giving Great Service by Ari Weinzweig and told us to read it and think of ways to apply the principles to our work. If you're not familiar with Zingerman's it is a small deli located in Ann Harbor, Michigan, and is known for taking the best ingredients to make the best food while providing the best customer service. It's grown from a deli to include a restaurant, bakery, creamery, mail-order service, training service and more, all locally based in Ann Harbor. I was curious what we as a team of computer engineers and architects could learn from a deli but it turns out the principles Ari describes are applicable to any organization regard