matt tullos: writer
1 Kings 8 records an historic worship experience. The Ark of the Covenant found its home. Smoke filled the temple. In fact we read this in verses ten and eleven: When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because […]
My life is on the wheel Earthbound clay Molded Wondering Why are His hands changing me? Poking, prodding, pounding (it feels like punishment sometimes) Moisture pouring out of me. His hands working, With purpose What is He creating in me? What does He see? Is there a purpose in the pain? Stretching, sensing, swirling, struggling I’m […]
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Galatians 4:5 There’s a huge difference between employees in a demanding organization and a loving home of grace. And yet so often I confuse the two when I thinkof the Christian communitity. We often are intimidated by our sentences […]
Many years ago, I encountered a madman and he happened to be a pastor. He hired lots of young, idealistic staff and questioned them at every turn. They would all eventually limp away from the church he pastored wounded, shrouded in shame, self-doubt and anger. The harder they worked and the more they succeeded on projects and relationships, the more brooding […]
Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there—it’s only a small place, isn’t it?—so that I can survive. Genesis 19:20 This peculiar story is tucked away in the post fire-and-brimstone train wreck of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his family dodge their […]
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. John 11:5 Some versions enclose this verse in parenthesis- almost as if John whispered under his breath, “Oh, by the way, Jesus loved these three people.” I think to myself, doesn’t Jesus love everybody? But I doubt the verse would have as much power if John […]
David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned down Ziklag. They also had kidnapped the women and everyone[a] in it from the youngest to the oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men arrived […]
Every now and then as a pastor I get an opportunity to scan the faces of my church family in worship. I know many of them well as they struggle through life. And then there are many I don’t know or only know vaguely. Many that I know are amazingly rising up to worship despite […]
(The Last One Works Every Time!) Growth is easy when you’re 8-years-old. It gets harder at 30 or 40 or 50. However, it’s easy to stop growing. Your growth as an adult demands intention. Stop growing? Easy as pie! But just in case you run out of ideas, here are a few ways: 1. Hold on to things Whether […]
What is the church? In all of it’s glory and shame What is the future of this beautiful wreck And what will we do when we realize that the Church is a Bride not a business How will we explain our constant desire to hoard all we can and keep inside a building made by […]