A Year’s Worth of Conversation

Merry Christmas!

Wow! Can you believe another year has gone by? It’s been a year full of change, challenge, and the confrontation that is always necessary when you are working towards vision. One of the things that we often have to challenge is our old way of thinking. We can get so comfortable, that we stop thinking, stop evaluating, and stop asking questions. Life just becomes routine and things like church and career slowly lose their meaning. At the beginning of this year, I had to admit to myself, and to you, that personal relationship with Christ had become convoluted. Relationship can quickly become religious with rules and routine. What I had was rules and routine. What I wanted was relationship!

How do you move from religion to relationship? You rethink how you’ve come to that place. You begin by asking questions, confronting old ideas, and having honest conversations. One of the greatest joys of this year has been having this conversation with you. Some have emailed me directly; some shared their opinion on the blog, and yet still some have been offended and have chosen to disengage. It’s all good, real conversation which causes all sorts of reactions and emotions.

So in case you missed it, here are some of the top conversations of the year. Read them for the first time or read them again and rethink your position. Invite others to reevaluate and converse with you, or join the conversation on the blog. Thanks for being there. May the New Year bring you a renewed relationship with Christ and those around you. Here we go . . .

The Pastoral Conversation, I think this generated some hate mail.

Re-thinking Pastoral Authority — 25 comments

Re-thinking Pastoral Accountability — 11 comments

When Preachers Lie On God — 5 comments

Rethinking Who Speaks for God — 2 comments

Who can forget the Tithe Conversation, people get so passionate about money.

Tithe – Not what Malachi 3 is about — 16 comments

Tithe – The Heart of the Matter — 7 comments

Tithe – Support for the poor — 5 comments

Tithe – The original purpose — 4 comments

Tithe — The Eternal Principle — 3 comments

Tithe – The Disconnect — 2 comments

The Church As Is Conversation was very insightful

Questions About Church As-Is — 27 comments

Re-thinking the way we dress for church — 20 comments

When Christians Have Sex — 16 comments

Rethinking What We Sell — 11 comments

A Faith I Can Live With — 5 comments

The Theology Conversation

Rethinking What God Said — 8 comments

Christians’ Personal Responsibility — 4 comments

Rethinking Orthopraxy — 2 comments

Who’s Influencing Your Theology?

Thinking Theology

It’s been a great year! Thanks again for being a part of the conversation. You never know where the conversation will lead, so keep checking the blog often. I love your insight and input, so leave me lots of comments for Christmas. Happy reading and once again, Merry Christmas!!!

For the love of our children

Yesterday my daughter wanted to go walking. She wanted to add to her rock collection. It was a chance to spend time with the family outside of the house, and I love walks anyway, so off to the park we went. We get there and the state park has a fee. We didn’t feel like paying to walk, so we went to the trail we noticed close by. Out of the car and on paved path, easy enough I thought.

We start walking, noticed some interesting signs about poisonous snakes and plants and animals that bite that we shouldn’t feed. Then the paved path disappears and before I know it, I find myself climbing a mountain. I’m not walking, I’m hiking! Half way up the mountain not knowing how far I have to go, I’m thinking to myself, “Oh, the things we do for the love of our children.”

All in all “Nature girl” inspired us to try something new and actually wonderful. Now I’m on a quest to find a longer hiking trail. I love a challenge! Have you ever been hiking? Do tell.