Welcome to my blog. I spend half my life in coffee shops having honest conversations about how following Jesus works in real life. So, let’s learn together, grab a cup and – join the conversation.
How this site works:
I’ll post every Monday and invite you to weigh in.
Quick Bio
I’m a businessman, elder in one of the more conservative mega churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan and for over 25 years a full time spiritual mentor of men. I love introducing people to Jesus and truth from God’s perspective. I’m also an NPR listener and student of our culture because I want to understand how the world and a younger generation think, so I’m prepared to engage in conversations which are true to the Bible, intellectually honest and gracious.
Following Jesus is the only hope I have of living this life with purpose, energy and expectation. I hope to end my days on earth still meeting young men at Starbucks who have no interest in God, being the patriarch of my family, cheering them on to godliness, making sad people smile and the lonely – laugh, giving the poor hope, pointing wayward men back to their families, teaching the whole counsel of God and keeping myself unstained – God’s reputation and mine intact.
I spend half my life in coffee shops having honest conversations about how following Jesus works in real life. So, let’s learn together, grab a cup and join the conversation.
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It’s stunning to me how many Christians express their ethical, moral or political ideas strongly as if they got those ideas straight out of the Bible. Ideas like:
“God hates homosexuals!” “America is a Christian nation.” “You can’t believe in abortion and be a true Christian.”
Later in this blog, I’ll briefly address each of these. And it doesn’t mean you can’t find some teaching in the Bible that seem to support some part of these ideas. But here’s a question I’ve learned to ask people who make statements like these;
(Yes, that’s me. And yes, I still don’t use a computer to write my blogs. Old School.)
My wife and I were out to dinner a few weeks ago and we were discussing how and why I blog. Specifically, how I come up with the topics for my blogs. Without trying to appear overly spiritual, I think the Holy Spirit gives me those topics. As I’m reading scripture, or listening to a sermon, or even watching the news. I often get this impression “that’s an idea you should think about more deeply.”
But irony is that often I’m not always sure what I believe about each topic, or why. To be sure I have an opinion on almost everything, but an opinion is not a fully formed thought, based on a biblical worldview. So rather than just shoot from the hip, I’m forced to do some research. Several things often happen as I begin that process.
A few years back, I met with a man considering a new job in California, moving there with his family. While the job and the move sounded exciting to him, something he said set off alarm bells in my spirit.
When I asked him questions about the affordability of housing, schools for his children and his wife’s thoughts on the move, he dismissed most of them with this statement.
“I’m just going by faith, like Abraham and his family. God brought him to a new country and prospered. We’re going to just trust God to do the same for us.”
My reply startled him. “But did God specifically tell you to go to California? Did he promise you, that if you went, he’d cause you to prosper with the kind of clarity he gave Abraham?” Obviously, he admitted God had not. Then made this observation; “There are some things you should never trust God for.” “Like what?” he asked with real skepticism.
I’m 71 and “old school.” I’m proud of that in some ways, like having a good work ethic, being courteous and loyal, my love for God and having trust in the Bible. But being old school has its downsides. Until five years ago, I didn’t realize how archaic both my language and ideas were regarding homosexuality and LGBT+ people.
I love hanging out with college and post-college young people, including our own grandchildren. I do that every week to either introduce them to the gospel or to help shape their worldview. So, five years ago, when I was having conversations about LGBT people and with LGBT people, I had to unlearn some old school ideas and learn some new ones if I was going to be relevant, event to our own grandchildren. So here is what I learned from my good friend and co-worker Dr. Preston Sprinkle.
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