Letters to a Congregation
Every Thursday I write a pastoral letter to the west congregation of The Austin Stone Community Church. These letters are simple, pastoral musings on what it looks like to live a life that is attentive to God in the midst of a shared context.
The One About Melancholy, Old Records, and Singing vs. Sighing
David found reason to sing, where before he could just sigh. He found reason to trust, where before he only doubted. He found reason to rejoice, where before he could only lament.
The One About Big Brothers, Memories, and Oral Surgery
Memory in the Hebrew tradition isn’t simply a recall of an event. Rather, it is a revisitation, a reliving of what went before. It was part of the way that a largely oral tradition kept a record of a people with a unique origin story alive. Feasts and festivals and gatherings were ways to revisit memories, and to recall the goodness and faithfulness of God across generations. David asks the LORD to revisit his covenantal faithfulness and in so doing to act on his behalf as a recipient of that faithfulness.
The One About the End of Summer, the Silence of God and How to Wait Well
I hate waiting, for anything, and so this is the most frustrating thing the Scriptures could say to me, but it is an oft-repeated instruction for the people of God. Wait … and then wait longer … and when you’re done with that, well, wait. God operates on another timeframe. He never seems to be subject to our own time demands, and yet, He is never late.
The One About Facebook Memories, Short Lives, and Texas Summers
And so friends, enjoy your short but beloved lives. God thinks about you, and He really, really (like for realsy) loves you, so go out and be who he called you to be. Don’t waste your life.
The One About Great Legs, Strong Horses, and What Really Pleases God
We often worship wrongly because we assume that God thinks like we do, but tucked away in Psalm 147 is some great news about the kind of people that please God. He measures differently to the way that we do. He isn’t impressed with physical strength and major earthly achievement. Verse 11 tells us that He takes pleasure… yes pleasure, in the faithfulness and trust of ordinary people.