Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Fifty years later, the church in America is still grappling with the systemic aftereffects of multigenerational racism. The things I’ve seen and heard and experienced as a husband and father in a multiracial … More A Time Such as This: MLK and the Future of the Church
There’s a problem that follows on the heels of repeated evil behavior, and that problem is almost as evil as the evil itself: its normalization. As citizens, our ability to restrain or recompense evil is painfully limited. But we can always restrain, or at least slow, its normalization. How? At the very least, we speak. … More Trump, Immigrants, and the Image of God
At 12:25pm Eastern Time on Friday, June 17 in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Cindi and I sat together on the bottom stairs of our two-story home, glancing at our pile of luggage in the hallway and looking knowingly at each other as we awaited our 12:30 ride to Standiford Field in Louisville. The time had come. A … More The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives
With my $50 gift card to the Shepherds’ Conference bookstore, I purchased (among other books) Give Me This Mountain by Helen Roseveare, first published in 1966. After reading it over the weekend, it feels a bit inappropriate to have gotten it for free. Roseveare was a medical missionary to the northeastern province of the Belgian Congo … More Give Me This Mountain
Before, during, and after our recent three-week trip to Uganda, I’ve had a lot of thoughts about missions. So many, in fact, that most people think that Cindi and I are locked into being career missionaries (which isn’t true; we’re still deciding that). A lot of those thoughts coalesced a few days ago during a … More Thoughts on Missions and Missionaries
Like any journey to a significantly different culture, our trip to Uganda provided us with fresh (though cracked) lenses through which to see aspects of the American mindset. The lens is fresh because it’s tinted with an African shade that enables us to see American culture from a new perspective. And the lens is cracked … More Kingdom Culture
I flipped on the TV tonight and Remember the Titans was ending. Although it has some definitely cheesy football footage, I’ve always appreciated the race-centered storyline. Especially now that we’re adopting a baby boy from Africa. During the scene where Sunshine, Petey, and Blue walk into a restaurant-bar in 1971 Virginia and are turned away … More Cultural Righteousness
Today was Cindi’s 26th birthday. She celebrated by going down to San Fernando for the second straight day and waiting to see if she would be picked for a jury. She wasn’t. But at least she knew by the end of the day, which means that she doesn’t have to go back in tomorrow. She … More Happy Birthday to Cindi
Here’s one small reason why international justice is important. By “small,” I mean the girl, not the reason. (HT: Adam Powell)
I posted the following at FoolishBlog tonight and thought I would post it here, too. The first paragraph is a bit redundant after what I shared here a few days ago, but the rest of it isn't. We title our posts over at FoolishBlog. I entitled this one "No Glamour Here." I recently returned from … More No Glamour Here
I'm very hesitant to try to share about my trip to Uganda. Not because I don't want to, but because it will be hard. I feel like I sometimes feel when being faced with a big school project. I know it'll take a lot of mental sweat, that it probably won't come out as good … More God-Centeredness
I feel like I'm making some big announcement in saying that I'm back from Uganda, but I'm not quite sure why I feel that way. Maybe it's because going to Africa was such a dream of mine for so long. Maybe it's because when you live in a tight-knit dorm community, being gone for twelve days is … More Back from Uganda: A Lesson about the Culture of the Word
I don't have much time tonight as I'm preparing to leave for Uganda tomorrow (technically today) as well as thinking about dorm chapel in the morning. But I wanted to post one last time before the two-week pause. As I leave, I am reminded of James 4:13-15: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow … More If the Lord Wills
Tomorrow I'm getting all my immunization shots and pills for my trip to Uganda. I didn't know there were so many serious diseases that were so easy to get in Africa. I guess I've wanted to go for so long and have thought so much about the needs and opportunities there that I never thought in detail about the … More Taste and See
For a long time, I have longed to visit Africa. I love Africa, as much as one can love a place he's never been and a people he's never seen. It's like the love I had for Israel before I went this past summer (a love which only increased and was proven to be a … More Africa: Finally!
Cindi and I spent the first half of Christmas Break in Oklahoma with our families, and have been back in California since last Thursday. We haven't been able to access the internet since we got back, which is why tonight's post is following one from Christmas Day. I'm not entirely sure what to write about … More Normal Christianity
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