Jonathan Shradar

Long weekend ahead. Which means either you will have more time for delighting in great reading or you will be busy with burgers and hotdogs on the grill. Either way, breathe deep, find some people you like, and enjoy the gifts we have been given. Four nuggets of good if you missed them earlier in the week. Grace, devices, discipleship and a place for all of us. Cheers! First up, Sam Storms in a surprisingly short post for him, helps us think through ways we don't fully embrace or understand the grace of God. It is a helpful list to think through and not meant as a guilt trip but an invitation into the true grace of Jesus. I even found myself on the list, needing more embrace and understanding of grace. Help Lord! Check the list for yourself , find grace and be free! Are you reading this on your phone? Well, don't put it down just yet... John Thomas has a review of Competing Spectacles on Christianity Today . Tony Reinke wrote the book encouraging discipline in our media age a

Friyay! The weekend is upon us and the season we enjoy called summer is quickly approaching. School graduations, last days, and Memorial Day are near... but we press on. This week a worldly perspective of masculinity, mid-life crisis, and the family feel of a small church. Get some. From the New York Times magazine last week is this story of a cultural perspective of masculinity. While the conclusions, or rather assumptions, the author presents are probably off, the storytelling is engaging. We have a long way to go in gaining healthy views on masculinity but a refusal of ownership for one's life is not a starting point. Be a man of your word, love those around you, care for your children. Next up, I am forty-one and a half at this very moment. That is the same age as John Piper as he suffered what we might call a mid-life crisis . I don't have any crisis, I won't buy a motorcycle, quit my job, or leave my wife, but I did resonate with some of the feelings Pastor John sha

My son, a six-year-old with more energy than I ever remember having, did something pretty normal today. But I noticed keenly the way it made me feel. It brought a smile to my face and I wonder if that is how it is as we stand before God and try to squeeze out a life. He had finished his lunch and was immersed in one of his favorite shows, "Brick by brick" which is a series where you simply watch a guy build lego sets. But then his watching turned into creating. He asked his mom to video him, or at least set it up, and the next thing I heard was "I am Ewen and today we are going to build a lego 100..." On his own, desiring to bring to life his set of legos and somehow inspire others by filming it. Now, I doubt anyone will ever see the video. But his effort brought a smile to my face. There is something about witnessing your child come into his own, to recreate and create from scratch that stirs your affections, warms your heart, makes you feel human. This, as meaning

What's up. We have arrived at another Friday. There has been another school shooting in Colorado. Too many. Too often. Before you escape to the weekend why not check out some worthwhile bits. A Second Mountain, Assessing and obsessing, and cleaning up some sermons by broadening them. Just ahead of launching into these, did you guess the correct name of prince Archie? Me neither. I thought it would be Darius. Onto what is worthwhile. David Brooks is a great writer and wrestler with our current culture on the edge of faith. he has a new book that is on my Kindle and receiving accolades from all quarters. The Second Mountain is a struggle against self-actualization and seeking spiritual health. The author spoke with Collin Hansen at the Gospel Coalition and you might gain something from the 29 minute conversation on finding something deeper. Reconnecting. For those in the valley, finding the mountain. Check it out. Maybe we can be broken open... Toward the opening goal, have you heard

I am encouraged as I am reading T he Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel. It is essentially a call to weakness that lives in the power of Christ. Recognizing that so much of life is lived under power schemes that are actually unhealthy or evil. Living the way of Jesus though is not a solitary endeavor. Here is what they say of the church, take it to heart. Because we are prone to waywardness, prone to walk the path of pride, self-sufficiency, and power, we need the church to ground us in Christ and his way. We cannot live in Christ’s way on our own. This likely sounds right, but many of us functionally doubt our need for the church. Pursuing the way of Christ seems like a “me and Jesus” kind of endeavor. But our focus on ourselves unearths a deep foolishness that owes more to our culture and worldliness than it does to Scripture. We have no hope of pursuing the way from above ap

It has been a bit of a whirlwind week here in Escondido but there is still plenty to share as you plan your weekend reading. A heavy subject, a better vision, and perseverance. But first: As a member of the North County Inland Pastors Prayer group, I had the privilege of helping to draft and sign the Poway Statement on violence. It is for pastors and ministry leaders to stand together against violent acts like the one we just experienced in our community. You can view the statement at PowayPastors.org . Anti-semitism and violence motivated by difference should have no quarter in the church and I think Jesus is bringing us as a universal church to an important moment of repentance and clarity. Now on to the worthwhile bits for this week. Related to the evil of white supremacy we have an article from Joe Carter on the roots of views that very well could be held in our pews. When I was working in radio at a Christian station, of all the conversations with listeners I had the one that is