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NewsVineSummer Madness!
By Ed Gungor
Summer Madness
It's summertime. That means it's time to play-to experience some leisure. But our work-oriented society does not give leisure its due. In his book, When I Relax I Feel Guilty, Tim Hansel talks about the business of play, or "leisure" in an insightful way:
"If you excuse me a moment for not speaking English, I think you will find it helpful to know the background of the word &lsquo...
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ShareWhen Grace Goes Sour
By Ed Gungor
For me, the most stunning aspect of faith is grace. Grace is that unmerited, incautious favor of God that most of us never tire hearing about. There is just something about it-whenever it comes, it changes what is into something grander. That is what I love about the gospel. It is a message of grace, and because of that, wherever it goes, it brings change.
But some groups who call themselves "g...
When Is Jesus Coming?
By Ed Gungor
When I first came to Christ, the group I hung with talked a lot about the return of Jesus Christ. We used to pass out fake newspapers with the headline "Christ Returns!" We were sure the event known as "the Rapture" (where Jesus returns to snatch away His followers) was close-certainly within the next year or two.
That was a little over thirty-five years ago.
But last-days prophecy stuff is fa...
Being God To Others
By Ed Gungor
One of the cornerstones of Christian theism is the idea that humankind was created to be a reflection of God himself. The Genesis account claims "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27). Paul claimed human beings are to be "imitators of God" (Eph. 5:1).
Do It Afraid
By Ed Gungor
Whenever I think about courageous people I usually think of someone who has done an amazing thing, like running into a burning building to save an elderly person or risking his own life by jumping into flood waters to save a mother and her baby-you know, things worthy of media coverage. But those kinds of courageous acts are not afforded to many of us (not to mention that most of us carry a fair degree of uncertainty about whether or not we are brave enough or strong enough to pull those acts off if they were).
Refusing To Quit
By Ed Gungor
Our first family dog was a small Border terrier with a grizzle-and-tan coat and fiercely intelligent eyes. We named him Max. And just dare to play tug-of-war with him. Max loved tug-of-war. With resolute determination he'd lock down on one end of the rope, shaking and jerking it back and forth while emitting a continuous, deep, bring-it-on growl.
When Is A Person "Saved"?
By Ed Gungor
Though the Christian claim is that God is most clearly seen through the life and person of Jesus Christ, that does not mean God is absent from the lives of people who participate in other world religions. In fact, Christians should assume that God is moving in the life of every person, in every place, at all times. The Christian position is that God cares for all of us, but many misunderstand wh...
Weird Belief Produces Weird Christians
By Ed Gungor
We all have a set of "lenses" by which we look at the world-a method or principle we use to interpret truth. These "lenses" help us determine the meaning of what is going on around us. For example, in the premodern world a violent natural event like an earthquake or an exploding volcano was thought of as some kind of vengeance from the gods. That was their lens. Pagan gods do that sort of thing.
Simple Faith
By Ed Gungor
There is an amazing Old Testament story about some guys and some sticks. The sticks were called staffs, and they were pretty handy in that agrarian culture. People used them to walk over rugged terrain, to poke and manage their livestock, and to beat back wolves—both the animal and human kind.
The Good Journey
By Ed Gungor
The apostle Paul wrote, "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears" (Phil. 1:6 MSG). You gotta love this. God promises to keep chasing us and working in us even after we start our journey of faith.
The Joys and Sorrows of Easter
By Ed Gungor
Christians everywhere celebrate the whole enchilada this weekend-the heart of the gospel is about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection, in particular, has been viewed by the church-historical as the most important aspect of the Christian faith. Paul said if there is no resurrection then we are "to be pitied more than all men" (1 Cor. 15:18). The resurrection of Jesus is not just seen as a historical event that we celebrate; it is a critical dimension of our very existence as Christians.
The Us-ness of Faith
By Ed Gungor
We Americans like being strong, individualistic, and tough. It’s so . . . American. We are rugged individualists. And there is some good in that. But there is also danger.
Can We Talk About Dying?
By Ed Gungor
Everybody loves a great ending of a book or movie. I hate stories that end badly. If an ending is bad, the whole story seems like a waste of time. I wonder if that says something about how the story of our lives should end? Death only comes in two varieties: fast or slow. Having a fatal accident or heart attack would be a fast death-one moment you're alive; the next you're dead. A slow death happens after a prolonged battle with a terminal illness, or as a result of old age. It's this slow variety that affords us the chance to end things well.
Getting Picked
By Ed Gungor
When I was a kid, I had a pretty stiff case of childhood asthma. I couldn't run much and generally sucked at anything related to sports. Consequently, I was usually the last one to get picked for teams during gym class. The scene usually played out like this:
Finding Our Place
By Ed Gungor
Is it possible that there is more going on than we can possibly understand? The Apostle Paul claimed that God's "paths"-his schemes-"are beyond tracing out" (Rom. 11:33). That implies some mystery. Other texts claim each of us is a destiny-a planned, on-purpose being that God wanted to cast in his unfolding play. If this is true, we can't think about life in terms of making our own story. Instead,...
Hurry Up and Wait
By Ed Gungor
Generally speaking, I hate to wait. I always have an eye out for the shortest line at the store and religiously pursue short-cuts around traffic.
I wish I could say my aversion to waiting is because I hate to waste time. But the truth is I kind of like wasting time doing things that don't really matter. I think it is more accurate to say that I hate to wait because I am selfish and want what I wa...
Stop Being A Doormat!
By Ed Gungor
What ever happened to the words of Jesus, "It is more blessed to give than to receive"? (Acts 20:35) The idea of sacrifice and giving ourselves in service to others is viewed by many today as one of those ridiculous little outdated standards that we have done well to abandon.
Labels That Kill
By Ed Gungor
1John 3:15 declares, "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him."
Generally, we don't think of getting ticked off at people as having anything to do with murder, but Scripture claims that anger unchecked has the seed of murder in it.
God's sixth moral command in Ex. 20:13 is, "You shall not murder."
But Jesus puts anger and murder on the s...
The Stem Cell Question
By Ed Gungor
This week, President Obama rescinded an executive order that prohibited the use of federal funds for stem cell research. Though this move is the fulfillment of a campaign promise (and shouldn't surprise us), it is very disturbing for those of us who are advocates of life. The fundamental impediment to our acceptance of embryonic stem cell research has to do with destruction of the human embryo.
The Stem Cell Question
By Ed Gungor
This week, President Obama rescinded an executive order that prohibited the use of federal funds for stem cell research. Though this move is the fulfillment of a campaign promise (and shouldn't surprise us), it is very disturbing for those of us who are advocates of life. The fundamental impediment to our acceptance of embryonic stem cell research has to do with destruction of the human embryo.
When God Stops By
By Ed Gungor
When I first began pastoring nearly thirty years ago, I spent the bulk of my time studying, praying, and counseling people. I lived and breathed ministry and longed for the spectacular. Whatever was going to happen, I knew it was going to be large. My ego, my expectations, and my plans grew exponentially by the minute. And I could almost hear the jet God was sending my way.
Do I Really Have To Fit In?
By Ed Gungor
"Fitting in is killing me," Halley wailed. It was obvious she was frustrated.
Halley was a twenty-something, single registered nurse who had given her life to Christ during her college years. She was smart, well spoken, and stylish.
"What do you mean by ‘fitting in'?" I asked, certain that I knew exactly what she meant.
"When I first came to church here," she began, "I loved how people wo...
Too Much Religion
By Ed Gungor
It seems like it is so easy to reduce our relationship with God to a bunch of do's and don'ts. Without much effort we can work ourselves into a frenzy trying to "get it all right" for God. The problem is, all our "doing" gets in the way of God's working in our lives - which is what faith is really supposed to be about. What really matters is what God has done, what God is doing and what God will do - not what we come up with.
What Matters Most
By Ed Gungor
Not only do we have the task of discovering and understanding truth if we want to grow in our faith, we have to figure out which truths are most important. Some truths are more important or more primary than other truths. For example, we know the truth that we must pray and study the word of God. Yet, if that truth becomes too central, we will reduce our faith in God to a series of spiritual exercises and forget that the basis of our relationship with God is not what we do but what he did through Jesus Christ. We get religious and our hearts get funky.
Happy Birthday Darwin!
By Ed Gungor
It's been 200 years since Darwin suggested that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. Today everyone concedes that some form of evolution is taking place all the time through variations that emerge within species of plants and animals-that's why there are so many different kinds of dogs, seedless grapes, hybrid corn, horse...
The Sovereignty Question
By Ed Gungor
There are many who believe that whatever is destined to be, will be. They think that humans have nothing to do with the future; that is God's sphere. Things only happen, these folks contend, because of God's sovereignty, and human beings don't really cause anything to happen that God wouldn't have done anyway. This group would argue that our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are more of an aside, because God will do what God will do, irrespective of what humans do.
Finding God's Will
By Ed Gungor
I don't think that believing in God and his plan for our lives means we are reduced to being puppets. Nor do I think that God is interested in mandating who we're to marry, exactly what job we're each supposed to have, and just what we're to eat for dinner. He doesn't want to micromanage our lives.
Small Is The New Big
By Ed Gungor
My dog's name is Frank. He is a little, white-haired terrier of some kind. He may be small but he lives large in the Gungor family. He thinks he's one of us and he has the job of "protector." If you came to my door right now and we were trying to talk, Frank would be a force to reckon with. He'd be freaking out that a "stranger" is at the door. And his bark is unnerving. He doesn't have the high-p...
Hit The Showers!
By Ed Gungor
There was no way I was going to make it in traditional evangelical Christianity. I was never good enough. Certainly never consistent enough. It was a willpower thing, and I never had much of it.
Hey God, Will You Be My Valentine?
By Ed Gungor
I think we long for romance because God is romantic. I also believe there is to be romance and mystery in our journey of faith. Paul said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:31-32). It obvious from this text that committed, romantic relationships give us a glimpse into the kind of relationship God wants with each one of us.
The Final Ouch (pt. 3)
By Ed Gungor
HELPFUL THOUGHT #3: MAKE THE DECISION
In order to walk out of the bondage of unforgiveness, we need to make the decision to release the person who has offended us. Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is an act of the will-it's a quality decision. A quality decision is a decision from which there is no retreat. You decide to release the person from his or her guilt . . . period. You may remember the offense repeatedly at first. That's OK. The commitment to forgive a person is a commitment to "send away" the incident every time it reappears in your mind.
In order to walk out of the bondage of unforgiveness, we need to make the decision to release the person who has offended us. Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is an act of the will-it's a quality decision. A quality decision is a decision from which there is no retreat. You decide to release the person from his or her guilt . . . period. You may remember the offense repeatedly at first. That's OK. The commitment to forgive a person is a commitment to "send away" the incident every time it reappears in your mind.
Ouch! (Part 2)
By Ed Gungor
We've been talking about forgiveness. Over my next two blogs I want to share four helpful thoughts, which aid in the forgiving process...
Ouch! (Part 1)
By Ed Gungor
The better I get to know some people, the more I like my dog. That sounds mean, but it's true. I don't know why it's so easy to get hurt by others. Insecurity? A longing for fairness? A desire to be loved and appreciated? All of the above? Whatever the reason, getting hurt by others is part of the human experience.
Is Nancy Pelosi The Devil?
By Ed Gungor
For those of us who are Christ-followers, it doesn't take long for us to get offended as we look at what's going on in American culture. We live in an upside down world where good is called evil and evil, good. It grieves us, and it should. It grieves God's heart as well.
Confessions of a Christian Tree-Hugger
By Ed Gungor
I grew up an earth user. Along with millions of other Americans from my generation, I shamelessly tossed out my fast food trash on the highways and byways as I traveled along, singing a song. I never thought much about it until I saw a public service announcement in the 1970s featuring an elderly American Indian chief looking at huge piles of garbage and sewage with a large tear running down his cheek. The commercial was very impacting emotionally and it was a watershed moment for me as far as my ecological worldview was concerned.
Chasing Butterflies with President Obama
By Ed Gungor
BARACK OBAMA, the 44th president of the United States heralds the promise of a new beginning for America. With reckless abandon President Obama is telling us that this is a new day; that a new dawn of positive change is upon us no matter how challenging the times are. Though I don't think any politician can make good on the kind of future President Obama is promising, I gotta be honest-I love the way it sounds!
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Ed Gungor is a veteran pastor, faith and culture expert, and New York Times best-selling author. A rare wonder in the American church, Gungor is a career minister with a strong aversion to “religion,†who often conducts well-informed discussions on philosophy and church history but can’t go more than two sentences without laughing at his own jokes.
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