About four years ago, I stared off of a precipice into oblivion. A depression that can only be described as debilitating gripped me, causing constant waves of self-loathing to all but drown me in despair. My problem? I couldn’t find a job that was sufficient to the task of supporting my family. We depended on [...]

The Calling of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. [...]

I’m beginning to see a dangerous idolatry in the water at First Hattiesburg, and it’s a very, very common one among churches in the South, and started hundreds of years ago with the Holy Roman Catholic Church. It’s something that doesn’t really become clear until you’ve been there a month or two and listened to [...]

So, it’s been a couple of weeks now, two Wednesday night Bible studies and two Sundays. During that time, my family’s life has seen some astounding changes. Karri, my wife, is diving deep into Driscoll’s “Religion Saves (and nine other misconceptions)” book and sermon series with reckless abandon. In the midst of impending loss (her [...]

“So I think I’m going to First tonight, sweetheart, what about you,” I asked, absentmindedly puttering around on Facebook.
“I figured we’d all go. I wanna try it out!”
“Cool, well, lets get everyone fed and ready before we go.”
After a dinner of Spanish Rice (that one was free, Rice-A-Roni), we packed up in the car, dealt [...]

I met with Pastor Jay at First Hattiesburg about 2:00, in the cafe on the back side of their new property on Lincoln road. As I waited for him to meet with another staff member briefly, I sat in that Starbucks-like room among other staff who seemed to be at the end of a lunch [...]

When I was struggling with my decision to leave Software Development behind and give my life, not just for Jesus’ glory but for His ministry and the expansion and realization of the Kingdom of God here on Earth… the evidence I used was not all internal.
I mean, sure, I read the Bible and prayed like [...]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbpGl_9rrcA
Had this album for a while, never sat and listened to this song. It describes a lot of my history with the church.

I have just about had it with the traditional church, at least as I’ve experienced it. It is infested to its core by moralistic, legalistic, fenced-in, inward-looking, self-righteous, holier-than-thou, shallow, incurious, arrogant, bombastic, patronizing, sneering so-called Christians. I find I am coming full-circle in my journey from my adolescence, and am left with much the [...]

Something to ponder, for the interested reader. I’ve been reading Deep Church by Jim Belcher for the last week or so, really trying to soak it in, and I want to talk about something I read last night about the biblical model of the Church. Dr. Belcher describes the early church as a gathering around [...]