On this podcast I offer some observations from the Gospel of Mark the 8th chapter when Jesus warns about the yeast of Herod and the Pharisees. What do we do with wickedness and a lack of integrity and what that might mean for a Christian thinking about their vote in 2020. You won’t want to … More What a Christian Should Consider Before Their Vote in 2020
by Alexei Laushkin Several years ago I was at a church retreat and each of us were asked to plot our spiritual lives on a graph from left to right and than to go around and share that graph with the group. Without fall most of these lifelong Christians drew a graph that had high … More How do you grow as a Christian?
by Alexei Laushkin The case of Botham Jean has been on my mind and something I’ve tracked since the killing took place. Botham Jean was a worship leader at the Dallas West Church of Christ. Here was a young man pursuing Jesus and leading and contributing to the people of God. His unjust death on September 6 2018 was a shock … More The Botham Jean Case, Race, Justice, and Faith
by Alexei Laushkin The Exodus is a pivotal moment for the people of God. They are rescued from Egypt, where their lives were filled with slavery, toil, and oppression and they make it to the desert on the way to the promised land. And what do they encounter? They encounter their hearts which are filled with self-slavery, … More Living in Exodus
We live in an age that does not have a very good concept or grasp of Christian commitment when it comes to loving our neighbor as our self. We interpret these words to mean that we should treat each other well not that we should commit to each other whether the relationship is going well … More Relational Commitment
Christian spiritual formation can take on an other-worldly emphasis from time to time. The evangelical American subculture (true for Catholics as well) is filled with retreat centers and other places where participants are invited to come away from their day to day life and spend time with God. In and of itself these centers of rest … More Grounded Faith Formation
One of the persistent themes for millennials tends to be relational isolation or lack of relational connection. Yes we have Facebook, twitter, and countless youtubes, instagram, skype, texting, and more, yet the basic problem remains. Are we known and do we know others really? When you look at depression rates, a bad economy (high unemployment … More On Loving My Neighbor Well
And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39, NIV) If you’re like me, you likely read past this part of scripture. Love, the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. You read the Lord part and skip … More And The Second is Like It
“So we are to be engaged in the public square, the local and global marketplace. But we are to do so as saints in the marketplace” (The Mission of God’s People by Christopher J.H. Wright) How should I be a Christian in my professional life seems to be one of those common Christian questions. We know … More Saints in the Marketplace
It’s a hard question. If you’re like me you may have been exposed to the idea that our relationship with God comes in cycles. Sometimes we feel closer to him and sometimes we feel further from him. The idea being that a life of faith is filled with peaks and valleys. I suspect a lot … More Does Faith Stagnate?
The Missional Life 