Why I Can’t Stop Writing About Porn and How I Hope to Help You Break Free!

In Addictions, Consumption, Formation, Pornography, Sex and Violence by BizgaineyLeave a Comment

I want to pick up where I left off many weeks ago: writing about the church – specifically, the church as a new kind of community.

A few weeks ago, however, I realized that I have to begin writing about pornography, again.

Honestly, I don’t want to write about pornography.  I wish it (porn, I mean) simply weren’t a “thing.”

But it is a “thing.”  It’s a terribly toxic “thing” that I suspect is worse than you know.

Solicitation and Sex-Trafficking in Our Backyard

In our small community, the authorities …
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What Makes News Good?

In Christianity, Church, Church Leadership, Formation, Funeral Gospel, Gospel by BizgaineyLeave a Comment

What makes news good news?

This is the question N.T. Wright tackles in his excellent book, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is News and What Makes it Good.

His answer is that news, or news that is especially good news, is an announcement.

It’s an announcement about something good that has already happened (often unexpectedly).  Because of this good thing that’s happened, things are now changed and things are changing!

We live in a news-saturated world.  Much of is often not good news.

So, what makes news …
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Reclaiming What’s Lost

In Christian Leadership, Christianity, Church, Community, Discipleship, Formation, Gospel, Pastoral Ministry, Spiritual Formation by BizgaineyLeave a Comment

Christ’s earliest followers sensed a fresh wind blowing.  They sensed that, as the resurrection-story poured forth, they were experiencing and living in the new-kind-of-Kingdom vision that Jesus often proclaimed.

No, they didn’t fully realize what was going on at the moment.

But that didn’t matter.

The earliest followers of Christ stumbled, bumbled, and tumbled their way into this new-kind-of-Kingdom promise of the Gospel.  As they did, they experienced power, proclaimed hope, and dispensed love – gratuitously, I might add.

They began, in short, a journey as a new-kind-of-people within a …
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A Hope-Inspired Existence

In Christianity, Church, Community, Discipleship, Formation, Gospel, Spiritual Formation, Transforming Pastoral Leadership by Bizgainey2 Comments

The early church was a raucous bunch!

Stumbling, bumbling, and fumbling their way into this new-way-to-be-human the Gospel so clearly proclaimed.

You don’t have to read too far into the New Testament to pick up on the sense of dynamic power at work within and among them!

They (the earliest followers) are not a second-guessing kind of people.

They aren’t a “Hey, I wonder-if-this-is-true” study-group kind of people.

We don’t find them huddled up in bible-study groups complaining about how bad the world is.

Nope.

None of that.…
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Feeling, Rather than Fleeing, Pain!

In Addictions, Brokenness, Formation, Fully Awake, Habits, Loneliness, Psalms, Purpose and Meaning, Resolution, Soul-Care, Spiritual Formation by BizgaineyLeave a Comment

The Princess Bride, a modern fairy tale employing all of the standard elements like Royalty, clearly defined heroes and villains, stark contrasts between good and evil, hints of magic and happy endings, is one of my favorite flicks.

While there are so many parts of this movie that make one laugh, there are also just as many parts that offer insight.

In one poignant moment, just after Princess Buttercup is mocked by the “Dread Pirate Roberts” and before she rediscovers her long, lost Wesley, the Pirate King reminds her that …
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Ministry, MLK, and Making Time to Write

In Brokenness, Christian Leadership, Culture, Discipleship, Formation, Gospel, Love, Ministry, Spiritual Formation, Transforming Pastoral Leadership by Bizgainey6 Comments

Wow!

It’s been nearly a month since I’ve blogged.

I’ve been locked in a busy season of life and ministry.  For many involved in full-time (or even part-time and volunteer) ministry, the Advent Season is full and vibrant.  Busy but rewarding.

I find that, when ministry demands are high, moments for writing are few and far between.

That’s when I have to create space to write.

Time to Write Doesn’t Just Happen

This morning, I looked at my calendar and was stunned to find that it’s already January 10th.  We …
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Christmas: Being Present to Glory

In Advent, Christmas, Consumption, Culture, Formation, Pastoral Ministry, Purpose and Meaning, Soul-Care, Spiritual Formation by Bizgainey2 Comments

The lyrics of the sacred song fly through celestial air.  Like a volleyball in a winner-take-all championship match, they are launched to and fro.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. they go.

These are no lightweight lyrics.

No, these lyrics are stout – laden with a density befitting the Divine!…
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Advent 1: Look Up, Your Redemption is Drawing Near!**

In Advent, Christmas, Contemplation, Culture, Delight in God, Desire, Discipleship, Formation by BizgaineyLeave a Comment

C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, suggests that we are a people of deep and unending desire.  He further states that our unending quest for satisfaction reveals a deeper and often confounding truth about what it means to be human!

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant…
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I Know What You Did Last Weekend!

In Christian Leadership, Church Leadership, Culture, Formation by BizgaineyLeave a Comment

I Know What You Did Last Summer, a favorite slasher/horror movie of the late 90s, grossed over 100 million at the box office.

The revenue and popularity generated by the original were immense. So much so that they decided to follow it up with two sequels.

As always, Hollywood greed crowded out good judgment.  The follow-ups were flops.

But, as far as horror movies go, the original still gets strong reviews among regular folk like you and me.

I know that many of my readers probably aren’t into horror …
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