Pastor Teddy Hart preached a great message on suffering at Renovatus two weeks ago. When he was done, he asked if he could pray for me along with our prayer pastor, Jason Goodnight. Of course I said yes. Teddy had rightly discerned the spiritual battle I have been in.

On the heels of Friday's post, today I want to honor, celebrate and thank the following people—just a few of many Church of God men and women who have marked me...

These posts are some of my most personal. I assume they will be utterly boring to some, fascinating to a few, and simply a strange curiosity to others. I am part of a denomination called the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), as is Renovatus Church...

I have told many times in sermons that there are more Psalms of lament than there are of celebration. But to recite them one after another, you really FEEL the lament. And I must say, I was overwhelmed by how many more words of complaint/grief/sorrow there were than words of comfort...

As for me, I may well be rocking my Unseen Power t-shirt down the street. I will not be wearing my Carman Addicted to Jesus t-shirt, as even I have to draw the line somewhere. But as silly as all of this might seem, I'm telling you it's all quite spiritual...

Growing up in a preacher's home, I was surprisingly never forbidden to listen to "secular" music, much less so-called Christian rock. But all around me, people were debating the merits of merging Christian lyrics with the devil's beats...

I spent the last week at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a monastery in the hills of Kentucky. The monks there chant the entire Psalter every 2 weeks. 7 times a day beginning at 3:15am. In between prayers and songs, they make cheese, fruitcake and fudge--which is awesome for so many reasons...

What an ironic thing-to be trying to cast out evil spirits while standing in a porn shop! Let me tell you what is equally ironic: to think you can have the kind of real encounter with the presence of God that you need while being surrounded by screens, speakers and cell phones...