Gary Thomas on Marriage & Family

I'm taking a class this week at Western Seminary taught by Gary Thomas. The class is called "Developing Strong Families." It is in an intensive format. We read a couple of books prior to class. We are in class all day, every day this week. Then we'll have a project to complete afterwards.

I am one day into it, and I am very excited about this class. Gary Thomas is a passionate, well informed speaker. But more importantly, he has something to say. That is, his take on marriage is unlike any other I've heard. It is both inspiring me, and rocking my world a bit. And that combination works for me. Today he was teaching on marriage. The subtitle to his book, Sacred Marriage, pretty much gives away his punchline; "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"

I hope to post more throughout the week regarding what I'm learning. For tonight, I'll simply give you a few of my favorite quotes (or at least what I wrote down) from Gary from today's class:


"Before God set up the church, he set up the family."

"If only the most mature are called to celicaby/singleness, that would mean all kids are raised by the least mature…would this be God’s design?"

"If I get married because I choose to, I can always change my mind. If I get married because God calls me to, I don't have the option of quitting."

"If you want to serve Jesus, stay single…if you want to be like Jesus get married."

"Most couples don’t fall out of love, they fall out of repentance."

"It's not a 'how to' issue, it's a 'heart to' issue."

"Does your wife feel like she is married to Jesus?" (see Ephesians 5)

"A 'difficult marriage' is redundant! All marriages are difficult...the point of marriage is to change us."

Ride:Well Tour

Most of you in Portland probably already know about the Ride:Well Tour. But in case you don't, and for my other readers I want to introduce you to a great thing. My buddy Don Miller is riding his bike across the country to bring awareness to the need for fresh water wells all throughout Africa. Don explains his adventure in a short video promo here:



You can track Don's trip, give to this cause, and read his journal entries here.

To Repent, Or Not To Repent?

First things first, it's been over 3 months since I've posted here. I'd apologize, but quite honestly I don't know if anyone has noticed. If you have, by all means accept my apologies.

The reason for the long absence? I'll blame it on facebook stealing my small discretionary computer time, and my "to do" list getting out of control. My assistant, Lisa, literally forced me to clean off my desk today. We uncovered over 20 sticky notes full of tasks. (It should be noted at this point that, in addition to my sticky notes, I also have a running list of tasks on my computer.) So I turned my sticky notes into a stylish beard.

Now, to a more serious matter...repentance. You may have heard all the chatter in the past few months about the "repentance" coming from Willow Creek Church, arguable the most influential church in respect to the seeker sensitive movement. If you need to stop and get caught up on this story, you can read about it here, here, and here.

Well, now it seems that "repentance" is not as clear as it seems. Check out this video of an interview with lead pastor Bill Hybels.



Now I am not a Hybels hater. I have a ton of respect for Bill Hybels. I think his motivation for ministry is pure. You would be hard pressed to find a man with a more evangelistic heart our there. This man's heart breaks for lost souls, and I'm drawn to that. Yet this interview bothered me as I watched it.

Let me contrast it with my pastor, Rick McKinley. A couple weeks ago Rick repented to our congregation...during the sermon! And this is not the first time he has done this. Occasionally he repents for something personal. Occasionally he will repent on behalf of the elders and leaders of the church for making mistakes. I want to be clear that this is not a regular occurrence. If a pastor was repenting weekly, one would wonder what he was doing in that position. Yet Rick is modeling something for us that is beautiful. All of us need the gospel, not just the "lost." The gospel exists for believers as well. It's Rick's understanding that repentance is a gift. It is what leads us to be transformed deeper and deeper into the image of Christ.

This is what baffles me. All the buzz I heard about Willow Creek "repenting" was that this was a noble and positive move for them. And now Bill Hybels seems to be stepping in to debunk it. I'm not sure if he is being self-protective, or what is going on. I have no less respect for him. It would be incredibly arrogant of me to criticize him. I don't know him. But I will say this; I want to be a Christian who is known as a man who repents when mistakes are made. I don't want to protect my image. I want the spotlight to shine on Jesus. I'm not saying Bill Hybels wants anything different. This video just stirred up many thoughts within me, and reminded me of who I want to become.