My wife and I viewed the movie “The Time Traveler’s Wife” last night. It’s a great movie about a child who is in… »
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Doug Murren
Christian Living
Starting a New Season
Fall is nearly here. I have one more week of vacation time left. I have been spending a lot of time with my wife this summer just hanging out. Resting and connecting are essential. But a new season is approaching.
I have always felt that New Year’s should begin on Labor Day. Its really when the… »
Thoughts
I have had a couple of thoughts come to my mind this week. One is kind of philosophical and won’t mean so much to many of you. Well, maybe no one.
I have been reviewing new concepts of church life a lot lately. I have been endeavoring to become an expert in as… »
Desperate Life
I hear a lot about passion. I like it. I think it’s very beneficial. But it speaks of raw emotion to me. I wonder how long before passion runs out. I think you should keep feeding it. But where does passion get its drive and power?
I know what the… »
Change for effectiveness
I believe in self-assessment. In fact I think it should be a regular part of life for someone committed to being effective with the life God has given. There is always the process of change that happens in our life. Transformation from glory to glory is the process we share in as… »
Patience
I had a thought this morning that I felt a need to get on the site.
Hebrews 6:12 reads -”We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
I was thinking about how quitting works. Maybe you are wanting to quit. … »
Old is New - New is Old
One of the benefits of still being curious after having been around awhile is you have a perspective that is pretty broad. I have a friend who calls me and guys like me sages. We are present and “here” and not just “there.” And our perspective is needed to round things… »
Mysterious People
Every town has mysterious people. The smaller the town the more evident they are. Churches also have mysterious people. I mean people we get to practice our love on. I may as well inform you now that you are a mysterious problem to someone. It is just the way it works.
The town… »
What’s your prayer style?
I think one of the real problems with formulated Christianity is it fits well with usually no more than one personality type, depending on the church.
I am not much of a pray with other people guy. I do because I feel it is a real point of power release—you know two or three gathered… »
The Gift of Confusion
One of my repeated stopping points is chapter eleven of the Gospel of John. If you don’t remember, it’s the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It is easily noted that Jesus hears of Lazarus’ illness and anticipated his death and yet remains another two days before heading to Bethany… »
Watch What You Believe
I don’t know how many times I have heard that the church is declining in numbers. Intuitively it just didn’t seem to be true to me. And then I find I was right. A noted Sociologist Rodney Stark has proven by an extensive study that the church has been the same number… »
Baseball Uniforms
Have you ever-noticed how comfortable baseball uniforms look? It is amazing that grown men get to wear those things to work every day. I wonder how much better we would all feel if we could where uniforms like that. Our jobs could give each of us a number. Some appropriate shoes… »
Exercise and Church Viability…
I thought I’d just share some unrelated (maybe random) thoughts I have had lately.
Exercise
I am not a big exerciser. I should walk more. And part of the time I do. It is one of the most frustrating parts of my life. I just am overcommitted enough that giving up an hour… »
Don’t Just Love Me
Christians love to tell each other how much love they have for the other. And I think on varied levels its true. I like being loved as much as the next guy. I like good feedback. And its better to be loved than being treated with indifference. But I am not so… »
Talk is Cheap
Talk is cheap. It’s hard to move from just talking to doing. It takes a little confrontation. Confrontation is much better for us than we often think. Comfort is the haven of most American Christianity. We have lost the sense of discomfort that comes with saying yes to Christ’s Lordship.
True faith is filled with impositions…. »
Testing Your Responses
I find that there are several responses I have to new things. I know many people who travel with me think that when I think up stuff the idea must fit well with me. Actually there are quite a few things I don’t like at all at first.
I find I can first test… »