Jonathan Shradar

Already March. Were you ready for that?! Things keep coming at us fast. Hopefully, you will get a chance to take a break and breathe in the rest of Christ this weekend. A couple of items worth thinking through this week. Not a lot in the way of articles but some perspective from my roles as pastor and father. First up is a tweet from Dan White Jr. A pastor and author with a forthcoming book on love. Dan tweeted a reflection from counseling that struck a chord on the Twittersphere, certainly with pastors. Ghosting is essentially disappearing from someone's life. You avoid them, you don't communicate, not texts, calls or interaction on social media or more importantly, non-digital life. I have been a pastor for nearly ten years and my experience is much the same. It is a strange vocation and since it is people-oriented role, meeting, becoming friends, and eventually losing people is normative. But it doesn't make it any easier. The hard bits are when it happens seemingly wit

" The reach of a tree depends on its roots. Choose roots over reach. " Karen Swallow Prior A few weeks ago my wife was cleaning or just moseying about when she bumped into one of our house plants. I love house plants. My desk is a miniature jungle and while we are not the best at keeping things thriving we give it the old college try. When she made contact with the plant she noticed that it strangely moved. On closer inspection, the plant seemed to be rootless and not tied to the soil. It was without an anchor in a ravaging world of dogs, active Children, and a woman who dusts. It was befuddling because without roots surely a thing which is a plant must be dead. This plant, however, had the green appearance of life while actually producing no flower or other sign of life. Thinking likewise of the church or even one's faith, it must have roots to absorb nutrients, to sustain life and to grow. As a small church pastor, I can get so wrapped up in a "blooming" churc

February is coming to an end. It is always faster than we think. For many, the hope of Spring over the horizon is enough to warm your heart and even for those of us in SoCal, we wouldn't mind some warmer temperature. So this week let's get real warm, in the love of Christ! Two articles. On having a "Precious" and not being awkward when we think we are. First from Sam Storms . A question: Is Jesus precious to your soul? I am preaching from the text he quotes and have been asking myself the same question all week. More than anything else, I long for Jesus to be precious to me, my obsession even. Are you on board? It's worthwhile. Read him here . Next up before you clock out for the weekend, Andrew Wilson quotes Matt Smethurst's new book on how sometimes (okay most of the time) evangelism can feel awkward and embarrassing to us. But it may be used by the Lord to draw people to himself. Are you down for being embarrassed in order to share Jesus? It sure beats not

Do you have a Valentine's Day hangover? Feeling loved and noticed or lonely and hopeless? At either end of the emotional spectrum, and in every spot along the way, the love of God is poured upon your heart by the Spirit (Rom. 5), may you feel that today as you trust in Jesus for all of life. A few items to share this week that could all be filed under false teaching/ heresy. Each informing us toward clarity and clinging more tightly to the biblical gospel of grace. Jared Wilson has an article on For The Church where he outlines key differences between biblical Christianity and Mormonism. While the recent tactic of this man-centered religion is to claim being Christian, their doctrinal beliefs makes that an impossibility. Wilson gives a good starting point to recognize the difference and still love Mormons with the hope of Christ. From the vault, as recent as December, Christianity Today highlights some new research that points out the link between pursuing "health and wealt

An article from Sam Storms on seeing Jesus in all of Scripture has me thinking about how we view all of life. How we interpret the events around us and on the global stage. What is our hermeneutic? her·me·neu·tic /hərmən(y)oodik/ adjective 1.concerning interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts. www.dictionary.com A hermeneutic is our method and theory of interpretation. And while Storms was reviewing Scripture to encourage interpreting the Bible as pointing to Christ, there is actually more we can see as pointing to Jesus - all of life. Here is the text in question (one of them anyway): Colossians 1:15–17 Jesus " is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him . And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. " (ESV) Storms them writes t

We have been suffering through a cold snap here in SoCal, lows in the 30's, and it is really more than I can bear! Seriously, it is amazing how thin my blood is. I need a stocking cap and coat when it is 60 degrees. Sad and brilliant at the same time! What should you check out this week? Keep reading and grab a couple of ideas! Alan Frow , pastor at Southlands Brea gives a glimpse of his forthcoming book in a post about the transient nature of California . If you have wondered what ministry looks like in the Golden State, here is a good look. Much similar in the transience of life in D.C. but with a different disposition toward engaging in the church and being rooted where you are. "Californian transience makes building community an extremely taxing pursuit. Honestly, leading a church in California can be like planting tumbleweed. The moment you think someone is putting roots down, they just roll on down the road to a new job, a new town, a new church or just a new adventure.