Essays
Romans Part 8: Glory Now!
Dan wraps up his discussion on Romans in Romans 8:18-30. He talks about the reality that we can experience glory now by becoming more like Jesus. When we #LoveWell, it’s a little taste of heaven.
Grace, She Takes The Blame
Four Gs: God is Gracious
Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name
Romans Part 7: No Condemnation
Dan spends some time unpacking Romans 8:1-17 and its connection to a Romans 12:3-8.
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Yeah...I NEED
The Four Gs: God is Good
What do you need to be satisfied? What do you need to be content?
Seriously.
What is it?
Do you need a new car? Those clothes? That house? This gadget? That person?
What do you need to be satisfied?
I'm Not Scurred
The Four Gs: God is Glorious
When I was in middle school I was not what you would call, “popular.” I was a home body, I played a non-school sport, and didn’t have many friends. Shockingly, middle school was really hard for me. It’s not a period of time that I look on with any kind of fondness.
I Got This!
The Four Gs: God is Great
It was cold. The mist hung thick in the air. It was late in a game that was out of hand underneath those Friday night lights. My son, the quarterback, dropped back to pass and after he released the ball a defender crushed him. It was by all means a late hit, one of many that game.
I lost my mind.
Silence
To take seasons of quiet and silence are important.
Simply, observe the world around you. Try to set aside your ego and be present.
This is hard.
Really hard.
Over the last week or so, I have been trying to do this. What’s been beautiful about it is that I am seeing more of my tribe and what it is that is broke. I am seeing other tribes and their beauty. I am noticing my neighbor and the love I have for them.
In this too, I’m seeing my own selfishness, greed, and unloving actions.
I am also becoming aware of an inner rage that needs to be dealt with.
The ugly isn’t everything though, I’m seeing in myself some growth toward empathy, compassion, and the ability to let things go.
In the silence, I’m coming to grips with the absolute fact that Growth = Grace + Truth + Time.
The “Time” piece is the hardest. I want growth completed yesterday. I don’t want to wait or be patient. I am reminded that time needs to be given to all, including myself.
Fear Not
Fear is powerful. It generates strong emotions for fight or flight. Fear brings about not just emotional responses but physical as well. For the most part we work very hard at mitigating the fear that we feel and experience on a regular basis.
The time within which we live is filled with people telling us everything that we are afraid of or should be afraid of. Fear and promotion of fear is everywhere. It seems to be the currency by which those in power trade.
Dignity of the Person
The story of the Scriptures opens by grounding people in their fundamental identity: human, the divine image bearer.
Thomas Browne in Religio Medici writes, “Let there be no doubt at the end of your life that you have been human. You are entitled to a Divine particle and to union with the invisible.”
Beauty In One Another
>“Beauty is the soul’s birthright.” - Bernard of Clairvaux
There is something that Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:30)”
Have you ever thought about it?
To Love Well Is To DO Something
When was the last time that you changed something about yourself? Perhaps it was a diet or workout regimen. Maybe you limited the amount of screen time you were consuming to read more.
What was it?
Welcome! I Wish You’d Leave
Have you ever been to a place where you expected hospitality and received none? How did it make you feel?
- Frustrated?
- Angry?
- Annoyed?
- Disappointed?
- Unwelcome?
Rise and Choose
Each day we rise and choose. Nobody else chooses for us. It is our choice and our choice alone.
We choose joyfulness. We choose hopefulness. We choose gratefulness. We choose happiness. We choose love.
We choose anger. We choose rage. We choose frustration. We choose irritation. We choose hate.
It is our choice. Nobody can make us do anything.
Faithful Presence - Reconciliation
In this week’s installment of #LoveWell Dan discusses the discipline of reconciliation. He’s riffing off David Fitch’s text, “A Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape The Church For Mission.”
Continue the conversation with Dan on Twitter: @danielmrose or Telegram: t.me/danielmrose
Pastor, Celebrate!
Every so often there is what I call, “The Pastor’s Lament.” This is when pastors take to the social media and explain how hard it is to be a pastor. They share memes of how pastoral ministry is so hard that they age like the President of the United States. They complain about the people they serve (not in public, but in private forums).
Basically, they whine.
I too am a pastor. Are there difficult things that go with being a pastor? Absolutely.
However, let us not lament, whine, or complain for we get to be cared for by the people of God to pray, serve, study, write, preach, and lead.
Family Together Is Better
When we started the Antioch Movement, what is now becoming the Acts 13 Network, we made a decision about families. We decided that we wanted families to be together in all that we did. Our hope was that families would not be separated during their times of worship.
We believe that for children to grow and see what it means to be God worshipers, they need to be with their parents. Not only that, we think that they need to see other adults worshiping God too. Also, they need to be witnesses to the worship of their peers.
The Promises Are Good
Do you ever wonder about God’s promises? You know, the ones that seem to be huge and wide sweeping. The ones that seem to go on forever.
Yet, never really seem to happen.
I do.
Often.
Shhh...Quiet Your Soul
How is your soul?
>Is it filled with anxiety? Is it filled with stress? Is it scattered? Is it weary? Is it joyous? Is it happy? Is it content?
How is your soul?
Faithful Presence - The Lord's Supper
Dan explores the significance of the Lord’s Supper in being the church on mission as he riffs on ideas from David Fitch’s text, Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape The Church For Mission.
Continue the conversation with Dan on twitter: @danielmrose or on Telegram t.me/danielmrose
A Waiting Hope
It was late fall and the leaves were almost completely off the trees but hadn’t been raked. At the end of our street was a 90 degree turn because we lived on a horseshoe. One morning, shortly after receiving my driver’s license, I was fiddling with music in my car and wasn’t paying attention. As I looked up the turn was coming at me. I slammed on the brakes and slid into a bank of mailboxes. Thinking nobody saw me, I continued on to school.
Later that day, I was home watching TV when the phone rang and my mom answered it. Something in me knew I was done for.
“Dan, were you involved in a hit and run today?” my mom asked.
“Me? No I didn’t hit anyone. Come on.” I replied.
“Well that was the police and they said someone reported that you hit the mailboxes at the end of the street this morning and fled the scene.”
“Oh. Yeah. That was me.”
The Bullied Theme
“Why do bad things happen to good people?”
That’s a question that is on the tip of many tongues. Too often too many people feel as though they are experiencing injustices.
Faithful Presence: The Intro
We get going proper into our discussion of “Faithful Presence - Seven Disciplines That Shape the Church for Mission” by David Fitch. Dan gives a general overview of where we are headed over the next few weeks. We hope you will join us in the conversation!
Connect with Dan on Twitter: @danielmrose
Connect with Dan on Telegram: danielmrose or love well.
Happiness Is...
There is a great picture floating around on social media. It’s a photo of two kids on a medal platform. The kid in first place has a sour look on his face. The kid in third place is rejoicing! The caption typically reads something like this, “Happiness is all about your perspective.”
I dig that sentiment.
My Kids!
Are you a parent? I am and I struggle daily with being a parent. It’s really hard and scary work. Parenting is not for the faint of heart.
In America we organize everything around our kids. Over the last few years there have been helicopter parents and now lawn mower parents (I’ll let you hit the Duck Duck Go Machine if you don’t know what those are).