The Christian Nerd

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. – Luke 9:1-6

Even though Jesus tells his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, the passage above concedes that not everyone will want to become a disciple. One such person responded to me yesterday on Twitter.

In reference to my post yesterday I tweeted, “Since Jim and Pam had sex before marriage, should Christians stop watching The Office?” The question was tongue-in-cheek and intended to entice people to read the post.

To that tweet, someone responded, “yes–christians should sit in a windowless room and not talk to anyone and not go anywhere but church-please do that-jesus asks”. Read more »

The students in our youth group are going through homecoming season. That means a lot of pictures, a lot of dressing up and hopefully as little drama as possible. The schools have a “Spirit Week” leading up to homecoming in which the students dress up for different themes each day. One theme that I’ve seen at a number of different schools is “Nerd Day”.

For some of us “Nerd Day” is every day.

From the pictures on Facebook, “Nerd Day” consists of nothing more than wearing taped glasses, suspenders and other nerdy stereotypes. Those are just window dressing, though, and don’t really make up a “Nerd Day”. Below are some components of an actual “Nerd Day”. Read more »

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” – Luke 24:32

After realizing they had been speaking to the resurrected Jesus, two disciples say they felt like their hearts were burning within them.

The first time I heard Rob Bell speak in person, I felt the same way.

In September of 2003, over eight years ago now, I first heard Rob Bell speak at a small youth pastors’ conference in the San Bernardino Mountains. The group was significantly smaller than those to which Bell speaks now, yet his fervor and passion for Jesus were abundantly clear.

Bell opened up the scriptures and the world of Jesus in ways that I hadn’t ever thought of. His ability to unlock deeper meanings through the context of Jesus’ day was truly remarkable. I told those I was with that I felt like a fire was burning within my heart.
Read more »