The truth finally came out. Eventually, it always comes out. Like a soundtrack portending something shady is immanent, I had an ominous feeling for a while that something wasn’t right. Then I heard all the damning data from someone…
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Words & Music by Kip Fox
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We cannot rush through sorrow. Walking through pain and loss and grief is like walking through water—slow, hard, and exhausting. It takes time. And it takes a toll on us. We feel trapped in confusion, surrounded by chaos…
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“There is something different about this church.” Our friends, semi-retired and fully-vital, had agreed to come and invest in the ministry at Trinity for a few weeks at a time. Then they came again for a few more weeks. They kept saying, “There is something different about this church.”…
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LEADER: Heavenly Father,
we come to you today
as a broken and divided people.
The Dean of the Community of Saint Anselm (COSA) and I talked on Skype. He was in his quaint study at Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury and working centre of the Anglican Communion. I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with my sliding glass door open…
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Text: Henry F. Lyte
Tune: William H. Monk Setting
Performance by Blake Flattley
Gracious and Heavenly Father, we come before you with contrite hearts, mindful of the great gap between how you see your Church and how we live out Your love in our lives…
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The first commandment with a promise is not just for the domestic home but also the divine home. Both homes are meant to have fathers and mothers. It is one of the more compelling aspects of the church that all ministry is children’s ministry…
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Words & Music by Heather Choate Davis
Performed by Blake Flattley
God’s grace us as broad as the world is wide,
But narrow the door to enter faith’s side…
An early temptation was to perform. I don’t mean a song or dance. I mean, I desperately wanted to bring something of value to people’s lives. We all know pastors who are great counselors. I should be good at counseling. We all know pastors who are…
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Words by John Newton & William Cwirla
Arranged by Blake Flattley
Oh Spirit of Truth,
help me in my weakness
to be still and to know
that the former things have
passed away…
An influencer tweets on Saturday night, “If your pastor doesn’t at least mention __________ today, you might want to find a new church!” A YouTube Religotician (religious politician), or is it Poligionist (political religionist), confidently proclaims that your pastor must…
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Lord, You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
You made no mistakes when you stitched me together as a unique creation.
If you have ever planted a church then you know it is nothing short of God speaking life into the daily laments of anxiety, despair, and uncertainty. Trust me, church planting is an exercise in utter self-conscious dependency.
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How Long, O Lord, Will We Be Exiled from Your House?
How long, O Lord, will we be exiled from your house?
How long will we dwell in a dry land where there is no water?
Merciful God, we confess how easy it is
for us to begin to adopt the attitudes
and actions of the world around us;
to let our lives be shaped only by
culture rather than by your call.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear and forgive.