December 24, 2018
Gospel Feast
Our Advent traditions have become numerous: we cut down our tree at the Beck family farm in the shadow of Mt. Hood; we make cinnamon rolls for our neighbors; we go ice skating at the mall; I take…
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December 23, 2018
Lasting Redeeming Love
On these last days of Advent, we turn our gaze to the love embodied in the crib. The incarnation carries into our world not just hope, peace, and joy, but Christ brings with Him a love of…
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December 22, 2018
Loved from the Beginning
One of my favorite Christmas memories came five years ago when Mirela told me she was pregnant with our second child. I was overjoyed, amazed, and humbled. When that daughter was born we named her “Maitê,” which means…
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December 21, 2018
Future Victory and Present Joy
We find ourselves between two arrivals - the first in Jesus in Bethlehem and the second as He comes again. We stand between resurrection and restoration. That’s precisely why this season is so important; it locates our hope,…
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December 20, 2018
The True Light
I haven’t found a suburban light show, a boat parade light show, or the lights in a fancy mall in Los Angeles to compare the Christmas lights of Lisbon, Portugal. My home city truly rises to the occasion…
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December 19, 2018
Emmanuel
Christmas is one of those strange times you sing a lot. It’s also a time when you oddly sing words in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of languages. A favorite, I think, is the song “O Come,…
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December 18, 2018
From Jaded to Jeweled
A guy who has hung around on the outskirts of our missional community sent a message asking for gas money this week. He said he missed us, but he has been going to another local church. My gut reaction…
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December 18, 2018
Good Times Have Come, So Go Tell it On the Mountain
We tell the stories that matter most to us and our world. The stories you tell at parties, over dinner, and even in small talk have two overlapping qualities: you like them and you think the people around…
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December 17, 2018
Joy to the World, Good News!
I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard the news: LeBron James was coming to Los Angeles to play for our Lakers. King James was going to come! After years of trying to read between…
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December 16, 2018
The Meaning of Joy
This Advent season has been a delight for me as we’ve walked through hope and peace. Now we turn our gaze toward joy. Our modern dictionaries define joy as a feeling of great happiness. It’s essentially pleasure plus,…
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December 15, 2018
When the Soul Feels Its Worth
This past week, each reflection has focused on the theme of Peace and the Kingdom Jesus’ birth brings. It all seems so wonderful. The birth of the saving king, so glorious. The highest glory has come to us! When…
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December 14, 2018
The End of War — Healing of the Nations
My favorite Christmas movie is Joyeux Noel. It tells the true story of a Christmas Day Truce in the trenches of World War I between the Germans, French, and British. The cost of World War I was a…
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December 13, 2018
Better than Christmas
At heart, I’m a nostalgic sentimentalist. Growing up, It’s a Wonderful Life was not only my favorite Christmas movie but my favorite movie in general. Seriously. Almost any holiday song by Nat King Cole or Bing Crosby still fills…
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December 13, 2018
We’ve Been Brought Near
We all have a complicated relationship with the Church. It’s a ruckus communion of saints. It’s for many a place of quarreling, a place of scheming, a place of power, and even for those same people, a place…
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December 12, 2018
The Kingdom that Divides
Growing up, my family spent each night of the holidays sitting beneath the glow of the Christmas tree and watching Christmas movies. We watched the original Miracle on 34th Street and the “new” Miracle on 34th Street (which…
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December 11, 2018
Sent Where the Sin Is
As we at Saturate seek to commission disciple-makers of students (or anyone for that matter), we are confronted with circumstances and beliefs that seems to be stopping many from starting a new work or shifting their current ministry functions. There…
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December 11, 2018
How the Long Expected Jesus Came
How does the king come? We know He comes to change the world. We know He was born into our world. But how does Jesus come? What is the manner, the posture, the practice of Jesus’ incarnation? Returning to…
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December 10, 2018
A Child and Big Government
Wherever he reigns, His thriving and flourishing will be there, too! His law is peace. On May 19, 2018, Prince Harry of England married Meghan Markle in Windsor, England. The event was marked by the usual fanfare of such…
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December 9, 2018
Peace on Earth
At the center of the angel’s announcement on the first Christmas night is this phrase found in Luke 2:14; it’s what Linus quotes at the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas: “Glory to God in the Highest, and peace…
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December 8, 2018
Mourning with Hope in a Tragic World
Christmas can be a time of lights, trees, parties, and decadent food, but it is definitely a season of grief and sadness. For some, it’s the grief of a lost childhood; the holidays remind us of all the…
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December 7, 2018
A Humble Baby?
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Therefore Israel…
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December 6, 2018
Responding to the King’s Arrival
Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold,…
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December 5, 2018
Life from a Stump
As I mentioned previously, our family always cuts down a Christmas tree. Each year, we leave a stump in the ground—something that was once growing is now dead. Stumps in Oregon are a part of life. In fact Portland…
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December 4, 2018
We Need “Good Shepherd” Theology
During our family meal last week, my five-year-old son Caleb perched attentively on the arm of the padded chair in which I sat––my Bible sprawled open on the coffee table in front of us. “What does it mean for…
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December 4, 2018
Jesus Came into the World
“Jesus came into Galilee” is offered as hope, the first hope. After centuries of silence, of struggle, and continued sin, the resignation of the people was, “No one is coming.” And yet, Jesus came into Galilee. “No-one-is-coming” is…
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December 3, 2018
The True Story of Hope
On a December morning in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, children and teachers were likely gearing up for a day filled with gluing cotton balls onto Santa beards when a 20-year-old man came into the school shooting and killing…
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December 2, 2018
Why Did Jesus Have to Come?
Christmas is a magical time for kids as they see the glow of lights, trees in the home, and packages accumulate. It’s also the season when we get to regularly articulate the meaning and nature of God coming…
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December 1, 2018
Preparing for Advent
Christmas Tree Hunting In the early days of Advent, we drive out to the Beck family farm to cut down a Christmas tree. Our only rule is it must be shorter than “Mom” so it will fit in…
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November 29, 2018
What to Expect from People in DNA Groups
Expectations for being in a DNA Group Deep discipleship and transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. Rather, deep growth occurs in the soil of trusting relationships, where we can be known and loved, challenged and encouraged. This is the purpose…
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November 27, 2018
The Whole Gospel
This is an excerpt from the Adult Leader's Preparation for the first lesson of Gospel Basics for Kids. Each week of Gospel Basics has reflections and readings to help the teacher prepare to engage kids on the same topic.…
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November 22, 2018
Why Teach the Basics of the Gospel to Kids?
Why should we teach the basics of the gospel to our kids? For no other reason than we are in a battle: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against…
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November 20, 2018
Speaking the Gospel with Children
Sometimes I think she understands, and I always wonder how amazed she will be when she fully comprehends the depth of the justice and righteousness Jesus brings to our lives, both here and in eternity. We are on the…
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November 16, 2018
Give Them Jesus
The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, states: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body…
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November 13, 2018
Reconstructing Our True Identity
This is part two of this two-part series on deconstructed Christianity. If you haven’t read the first piece on the roots and ramifications of deconstruction, go back and do that first. The True Story Could it be that the…
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November 8, 2018
Hope for Deconstructed Christians
Our hope is that through embracing the Bible as the True Story, followers of Jesus are given three new identities that reconstruct a flourishing faith. In the past couple of weeks, we have witnessed pipe bombs sent to prominent…
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November 1, 2018
Flourishing at the Table
Hospitality is a practice to be cultivated for God’s glory, our good and the flourishing of others. It’s an invitation to worship the One who invites us in, feeds us, listens to us, knows us, and provides for our…
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