THE VIEW FROM UP HERE

last post

MY LAST POST

This will be my last post. Friday and Sunday I will give my last two sermons at Mountain View. They will be the most important I have ever given, not just because they are my last, but because of their subject matter.   Jesus’ death and resurrection are...

Goodbye Rodarmel Family

COME SAY GOODBYE SUNDAY

Sunday we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mountain View Church and say goodbye to me and my family. There will be a block party after both services with live gypsy jazz, bounce houses for the kids, and great food.   You will have a chance to...

looking forward

LOOKING FORWARD AND LOOKING BACK

This past week Traci, Luke and I moved out of our apartment on the beach in San Clemente and into our home in the woods in Nashville. I will always treasure my time living on the ocean, AND I’m excited to live among the trees.   I’m...

ruin

REBUILDING YOUR RUINED FAITH

When I move to Tennessee I plan to rebuild this old ruin into a guest house. My next book will use the process as a metaphor to help people reconstruct their ruined faith. Why tear it down if it has good bones?   In the mean time,...

Did Jesus get hangry?

DID JESUS GET HANGRY?

Did Jesus get hangry? Apparently.   In Mark 11 Jesus is hungry and sees a fig tree that looks promising because of it’s leaves, but when he gets closer, he sees it has no fruit. So Jesus curses the tree and it withers by the next day.   This...

WONDER

A SEASON OF WONDER

I smeared soot on your forehead. You usually don’t let anyone touch your face, but you looked in my eyes and I told you that you were going to die while I marked you with ashes. I wonder, was it as unsettling for you as...

ukraine

A PRAYER FOR UKRAINE

Pray with us using this prayer for the crisis in Ukraine, written by Pete Greig from the Lectio 365 App.   Father God, King of all nations, I cry out to You now for the people of Ukraine and especially those who are grieving, dying or displaced....

Why it happens

WHY $#!+ HAPPENS

Have you ever had something bad happen and the things people try to say to encourage you only make it worse?   Yeah, me too.   Once upon a time I fell off a cliff and broke both of my ankles. It was the day before I was supposed...

sustainable

SUSTAINABLE FLOURISHING FOR LIFE

I wrote Sustainable Spirituality because too many people are dependent on fast food faith that is more hype than hope. They go to conferences, podcasts, churches and books to get something they could be cultivating in their own lives. Real transformation is not acquired somewhere...

flourish fruit

FLOURISH TO WHAT END?

We have been talking all year about flourishing. I know we are only three weeks into the year, but already we have looked at how we prepare the soil of our hearts, how we plant the right seed and how we abide in the vine...