Ethan Moore

"I'm in a real pickle, and I don't relish it."  - Matthew I'll go ahead and remove the suspense: Matthew died this weekend. He served as a pastor, bookshop curator, minister, chaplain, missionary, and friend. Matthew never set out to be anyone's mentor, but he was mine. He came along when I most needed someone who could relate to my individualistic soul, a fellow-loner who could listen to my rantings and offer me another piece of naan. He was also the most quotable person I ever knew. "Being with you is like being alone." Ministry presents unique difficulties for introverts. Extroverts … [Read more...] about The Accidental Mentor

 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' Matthew 25:24-25  Some people use a fear of failure to drive themselves forward, preferring to shield themselves from the judgment of their peers.  Perhaps demanding fathers stand forever just over their shoulders, out of sight, judging.  Maybe a series of significant others serve as disapprovers over the … [Read more...] about Is Fear a Sin?

The Lord's Supper always frightened me. My childhood Lord's Supper memories remained deeply ingrained.  We had fancy metal serving trays with real glass cups.  C.B. Klinner led the church through several mournful hymns, highlighted by "There Is a Fountain" sung at a quarter of its intended pace.  We never slumbered, though, out of fear of "...partaking in the cup in a manner unworthy..." No other admonition prompted such soul-searching.  I could lie to my parents, cheat on my homework, and battle my teachers, but before the Lord's Supper I repented gladly and tearfully.  I locked Bob … [Read more...] about Proclaiming His Death in the Lord’s Supper and Beyond

Best thing I can do sometimes is just get out of the way and let my wife write.  Enjoy. Sometimes life is all about seasons. I spent years as a full-time church planter, long enough that it became my area of relative expertise. But that was a season and like all seasons it ended. And now there's a new season. I am longer a full-time church planter. Instead, my husband and I work to develop partnerships with U.S. churches, getting them involved in international missions.  The work has been rewarding, a new challenge that forces me to grow and stretch. Even so, the changing of … [Read more...] about Seasons

Pull up a chair, wipe the sweat off your forearms so you don't stick to the furniture, and listen to me whine for a while.  Vent.  Whatever. We've recently transferred from one job to another.  To be honest, I welcomed it.  We've long believed that God had something else for us, a new way to use us and the skills we've added over the years.  We remained committed to the last role, but possessed a deep conviction that He had something different planned for our future.  The new job, while still in international missions, does not in the smallest way resemble my last one, and I'm fine with … [Read more...] about It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Calling

To put it mildly, as a group my circle of Christian friends lists to the right.  In their views, Palin is a political goddess, lazy people use Welfare, Ferguson wasn't about race.  And Senator Ted Cruz is a rock star. On September 10, at the In Defense of Christians meeting in Washington, D.C., Cruz addressed the horrors of ISIS and the persecution of religious minorities.  At least, he attempted to do so; his comments elicited boos and jeers, and he left the stage without finishing.  To my right-leaning Facebook friends, the crowd's treatment of Cruz reflected a liberal, CNN-driven, … [Read more...] about Where Ted Cruz’s Christian Supporters Get It Wrong

1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. 2 "I have loved you," says the Lord.“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.  5 You will see it … [Read more...] about Reflections on Malachi 1:1-5