I’ve posted some notes from Shaped by the Word by Robert Mulholland. It’s a helpful look at the role Scripture can play in spiritual formation. I’ve also posted a couple of new sermons.

Great question from Randy Harris for checking whether someone’s faith tends to be more rational or experiential:

Do you believe in the Living Lord because of the resurrection or do you believe in the resurrection because of the Living Lord?

This past weekend I had the opportunity to get together with a handful of young preacher types and sit in a circle with Mike Cope, Randy Harris, and Rick Atchley. There was no real agenda other than talking about whatever was on our hearts. Mike, Randy, and Rick are all great preachers and I love to hear them preach, but I found the dialogue with them to be far more stimulating than a sermon.

I also got to know fellow blogger Jeff Jenkins better. Jeff is settling into a new ministry. He’s excited about it and after hearing him talk about it I’m excited for him.

Yesterday Heather and I celebrated our seventh anniversary! Thanks to some wonderful folks from church who volunteered to watch the boys, we were able to go out last night and watch “Secondhand Lions” (great movie) and then enjoy a meal together. During dinner we looked back at the past seven years and recounted some of the joys and the challenges we’ve already experienced together. There were far more joys than challenges. It was a great night. I’m blessed to have Heather as my wife, friend, and partner in ministry.

Yesterday I preached a message about the father in the story of the lost son in Luke 15. I used details about the cultural background of the story to help us look at it from a different perspective.

One of the books I found useful in preparing for the sermon was Kenneth Bailey’s Poet and Peasant.

Bailey has also published an article in Christianity Today that is helpful.

I’ll try to have the sermon notes online later today.