CityFellowship

06/15/2022

Pssst...if you're in NYC and planning to visit or want to keep in touch, look for our private group CF Angels in Training... that's where we've been.

06/13/2022

Mentally collect things that you love and delight in... (cf., Phil 4:8)

05/22/2021

This is an article from a couple of years ago - but I revisited recently while thinking about what Jesus meant when He said "blessed are the poor" and "blessed are the poor in spirit." The Greek ptwchos is the opposite of rich/powerful. And I've been thinking about my pastor friends, ALL who have good hearts, but some who are persistently stuck in a strange psychological condition where they seem to feel 'above' other people...albeit with great humility. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've been there too, and I've come to realize that we lack the emotional skills to navigate these (what are really) spiritual issues.... But Jesus' words have been there all along. Jesus didn't live in the head space of the powerful, but that of a Servant. He promoted being poor - not because poverty has any value - but because the poor are in the right frame of mind that we so quickly lose when power happens to us. But the good news is we CAN be poor in spirit - have that clarity and mind...and empathy, that we naturally excel in when we too are powerless. This is why I think worship is so important. To stand joyfully powerless before a mighty God is a blessing that makes us whole and sane.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/?fbclid=IwAR1hSSwQ2gEubfoWrHn-Xj2OKdlOW7i2vphYLKPszdpfj534q_1H294sSyc

How leaders lose mental capacities—most notably for reading other people—that were essential to their rise

01/11/2021

To anyone checking this page: A few years ago I decided I was made to be a small church pastor and so I scaled back our online presence... The reason(s) were largely political..

My position on gay marriage has always been: if you don't like gay marriage, then don't marry a gay person...it's that simple! Why should I prevent other people from deciding who can and cannot be their legal spouse/family member? As a married dad, I know there are many instances where my status as "dad" and "husband" give me rights and access that I would not otherwise (like in hospitals, should anything happen). Why would a Jesus-follower want to prevent other people from having those rights??

And why would a Jesus follower support, or even tolerate, having anything to do with Donald Trump? I won't go into my reasons, because if you don't know by now, you clearly aren't swayed by reason. I don't care who Franklin Graham is or who his father was... Judas was an elite disciple of Jesus, it didn't make him right.

Anyway I realized that if I'm not careful I can wind up spending 120% of my time defending and arguing those 2 things... which may be worthwhile, but it is NOT really my calling in life. I'd rather pastor a small church of broken people trying to learn to love well and love our neighbors... Anyway... THAT is why this page has been rather quiet. If you're looking for a church, please know you are precious to God, and that God has already prepared connections in your life - so find a good church among those you're already somehow connected to.... but at the same time, please don't just "settle" - there are MANY churches that do not resemble Jesus, and have "success" that does not come from God... If the past 4 years of the White House has proven anything it is that one can be successful in this world and yet a complete and utter failure.

04/17/2019

The Hebrew word "holy" means "set apart." I learned that at the beginning of my seminary studies... but it wasn't until years after that I understood what it really meant that God was holy and how He makes us holy too.

“Holy” is not a word we use in conventional English…but I think the concept of holiness is one that we use all the time. The closest categories we articulate are: “worth” or “beau…

02/13/2019

All the people I know with great attitudes, intelligence, and commitment to God - and yet do not grow - seem to have this one attribute in common... They don't see anything wrong with one or both of their parents - they don't see them as sinners in need of grace.

Your parents were sinful. Both of them. They were flawed, broken, not just imperfect, but actually capable of wickedness and wrong…that is what the Bible tells us. Many people who had good lo…

02/09/2019

If you found out you were a character in a fictional world - what would you do?

Random graphic novel Grace used to love – that I have to remember to give to David before Momo starts reading them. In the Matrix, people find out that their world is an illusion, that there …

01/29/2019

Get a job, or get into a school, find someone to love, find purpose in existing, feed the cat... just another to do list.

Feed the cat, if you have one. Please. Then there are things you do regularly, brush teeth, go to the gym maybe. When it comes to my millennial friends, then the order seems to be: love, then KonMa…

01/24/2019

A new blog post! Two in one year!

God already knows what you want, God already knows what you need, anyone who loved you and could see you would probably know these things so it’s not hard for God to know. And when a blind be…