i’ve never had an addiction. well, at least the kind that necessitates an ‘anonymous’ group. you know, the kind where you get up and say, ‘hi, my name is ryan and i bite the heads off of my little ponies or i’m an alcoholic or i like to lick concrete.’ never been to one of those.

but it might be good to reveal, publicly, to readers of this blog one of my lifelong dark not-so-secrets.

i’m a crier.

i find veteran’s day to be a tricky day of observance and remembrance (those who know me well and have read this blog for any amount of time won’t be surprised by that statement). on one hand, i genuinely cannot fathom the depth of commitment and self-sacrifice by our country’s veterans (i certainly haven’t been willing to it). they have [...]

it’s 5th grade. you’re on the playground. you see billy mcgee—the class bully—coming your direction. billy doesn’t beat people up with his fists. but billy knows how to beat people up with his words. you know it’s coming. “hey you. yeah, you. your mom’s so dumb she brought a spoon to the super bowl.” his entourage—little eddie hankins and robby [...]

a couple days, i had a twitter conversation (or as much as you can possibly have on twitter) with a good friend about the concept of amassing wealth and living “comfortably”. specifically, the following values (in the context of “personal responsibility”) were offered by him: “saving for retirement, living comfortably w/in means, & taking care of the poor.” my response [...]

on a fateful day in 1999, fragile, protected-from-the-evils-of-the-world christians learned of the shock and horror they previously thought unimaginable: amy grant, darling of contemporary christian music, got divorced. gasp! shockwaves (yes, i too wish i was exaggerating) rippled through baptist churches from sea to shining sea. after cd-burning parties, a healthy dose of potluck dinner gossip and legions of once-diehard [...]

i posted this on the eikon church blog and i thought it was worth sharing here as well. this is a big announcement and turning point for our growing community, so i wanted readers here to have an extended invitation as well. ————————————————— last june, this thing called eikon kicked off, publicly, with a little cookout with some burgers, some [...]

life rarely offers those moments where the world literally fades away, blurring at the peripheral edges, and you’re left with just you and one other person speaking words directly into your innermost places that no one sees. at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, that very scenario transpired last july in a performance hall in grand rapids, michigan. sitting in a [...]