Dan Herford

Receive, juggle, pass

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Done? Let’s Go!

It’s Sunday.  Did you go to a building for a worship service this morning?  Increasingly, the answer given by committed Christians is “no”.

In the past week or so, there have been a number of posts about the Dones.  These are the very involved and serious Christians who are dropping out of the organized church.  I’m one of them. Continue reading

Oh! Now I See Where You’re Coming From!

#TheresGottaBeABetterWay

For me, one fingernails-on-chalkboard irritation  is lack of interest in understanding other people’s perspective.  Not lack of understanding, but lack of interest in trying to understand.

If you want to find how well-shaped my character is, one good test is to show no interest in understanding what I’m trying to say.  That frustration transfers over to conversations that I’m not a part of, too.  Which is why I love radio talk shows.  Maybe not. Continue reading

One People in Jesus

Adam and Eve carried within their DNA the potential for all of the physical variations – obvious or subtle – of the human race.  Ever feature and hue woven into the tapestry of humanity were hidden possibilities.   Every culture and clan; every nation, tribe and tongue; they all spilled forth, splashing and splitting and breaking into a thousand rivulets from the headwaters of creation.

At every division, sin was the stone in the way.  Like a massive rock outcropping in a stream, jealousy, pride, hatred, and murder split the flow, sending one group this way and others that.   Along the way God interacted, protecting and redirecting, sometimes encouraging the division, other times bringing divergent streams back together.  The Flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses.

Ultimately, when the time was right, Jesus. Continue reading

Certain Problems

We like certainty.

We like to know we’re on the right side, that the things we believe are true.

Much of our security – our identity – is found in our certainty about political views, ideas about God, or the superiority of our country.

This tribal inclination, this embracing of ‘isms’, this staunch commitment to a particular church or political party or ideology – this is common.  This need to be right and sure about our affiliations and opinions – this is a normal part of being human.   Certainty is a comfort food for the brain.  But our certainty is often misplaced.  If one thing is certain, it’s that we can’t all be right all the time about all those things we hold so dearly.  And that’s a problem. Continue reading

The Bikeable Church – a book review

Portland, Oregon is one of the major hubs of North American bike culture, spinning out cargo bikes, bike clothing, a major bike blog, custom frame builders, and all manner of things bike.  Into this fertile bike landscape Sean Benesh is sowing the seeds of the gospel while simultaneously learning the cultural lessons that the city offers the observant coffee-sipper.  Continue reading

Approved Ones in a Divided Church

If there is a main theme to my blog so far, it is that God desires to be known to the world through an interconnected people.  Advancing this thought sometimes feels like tilting at windmills, because the barriers seem so many and so high.  The church is marked particularly by how fragmented it is, by the denominational lines and the separation – even animosity – between different groups. Continue reading

Vosotros, Y’all

Folks, as I read the Bible, I become increasingly convinced that the typical ‘me-and-God’ take on what it means to be a Christian is completely at odds with God’s purposes.  While God is concerned about every single person out there, his intentions have much more to do with y’all than with you.

This is a bit nuanced, but hang with me as we dig around a bit. Continue reading

Examples from the Trenches, and Schrödinger’s Cat

We need to have our collective imagination stirred to see how we-all are able to be disciples who disciple others in the context of life.

This ties into two previous posts – the first, where I talked about how our models of church tell us what it means to be a Christian, and the second, where I talked about the permission we have to live the radical life of a Christ-follower.

I just read a post on a well-known Christian leader’s blog about the barriers to being a disciple-maker.  While I appreciated it, Continue reading

Tribute to a Great Lady

Today, October 11th, is my Grandma Mickie’s birthday.

She is a remarkable woman, still pressing forward as she begins her 90th year.  Slowing down a bit, but still pressing forward.

A one-word description that jumps to my mind when I think of her is ‘ornery’.  Continue reading

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