Wade Poe

Peer pressure can be hard. Sometimes the weight of the people in the room is so much you don't even know when a decision is made, but you find yourself doing what   everyone  else is doing. Sometimes you don't even have to be in the room with anyone, but the feeling of all those people and what they might think of you and how they might judge you weighs your decision making to one side - theirs. I can't say we've all "been there" 'cause I don't know what people have gone through in detail. I do remember times in life when I went along with things and times when I stood back and did not. Youth is a time when many people do "give in" because "it's what everyone is doing" and your thinking is very black and white and you truly believe what people think about you is very important. Whether it's needing to look like other people in terms of how they dress or cut their hair or maybe going to some place and doing what everyone is d...

Many years ago, back in my years of youth/family ministry ('89-2000ish), we had an annual weekend retreat with a few other churches at a nice retreat center.  Like a lot of events like that, there's a lot of fun, food, and just hanging out mixed in with times of spiritual and community focus - singing, listening to talks, etc. It usually culminated with a large gathering on the last night; everyone gathered together in the gym/big group area for a lot of singing, an emotional-come-to-Jesus-talk, maybe some baptisms or group prayer times, and then hugs and everyone go to bed in prep for a good night of sleep and going home the next morning. As we wrapped it up and sent everyone to their cabins, we all noticed that there were no lights anywhere except in the big group area that we were leaving.  One by one, people reported that their cabins or houses had no lights.  We checked for power and realized it wasn't an electricity issue, but that there were actually no light bulbs...

From my experience, it’s not Jesus Christ that most outsiders reject, but instead, what is seen as Christian culture that is rejected.  Very often that Christian culture has a little to do with Christ and more to do with middle class American values. I kind of still struggle with why people inside church don’t understand why people outside don’t just get bowled over or won over by their church culture and/or relationship network. I am guessing that most people inside assume that outsiders just "don’t want to believe”. Like any group that exists, churches that have any critical mass will often assume their “open doors” are attractive to just about anyone, without any realization that they’ve bonded around some common cultural similarities that may or may not have anything to do with God, Jesus, etc. There’s uncertainty as to whether leadership of such groups understands what actually bonds them.   I’m guessing the more savvy among the group knows this 100% and don’t mind ri...

Years ago, a teaching assistant at a major university in Texas was quickly reviewing an exam the class had just completed earlier in the week.  As he went through the multiple choice section, he would explain why each answer was incorrect and then why the right answer was correct.   He came to a question where the answer was "D" and proceeded to explain why A, B, and C were wrong without looking ahead to see what D was.  When he got to D, it was "All of the above".  _____________ A hard thing to deal with over the years was watching fellow travelers say they are interested in discussing something with another person in the interest of coming to "the truth" and then watching as they defended a position with little to no understanding of it and with zero intention of learning why the other person believed what they believed. From my tribal point of view, we were right - regardless.  The other people were wrong - regardless.  The assumed question in any discu...

  What are we looking at in the picture? Two representations of the same thing. The real thing most likely lived on a farm somewhere in some place the puzzle maker and the person who assembles the puzzle have likely never seen.  In this humorous meme usually entitled "Finished it!", I'm reminded of how our pictures of life are created on the move, in concert with others who are also creating alongside us, and, as a result, sometimes have a very loose connection with "the reality".  By the time it "gets to us" our picture may be distorted. Most of us have never seen things we know or assume to be real: a duck-billed platypus, the rotation of the earth from space, Abraham Lincoln, Moses from the Bible, and so on.  We've seen pictures or representations that others say are real or close to accurate that they've received from others, etc. In other words, we take a lot on faith - we trust those who've gone on before us accurately and without bia...

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. (Paul in Colossians 2) "Paul was just a bigoted jerk!"  Hmmm...no, I don't think so. Sure, Paul did talk a lot about behaviors and actions and thinking - do better than just living laissez faire , live up to what you've already been given, when you're around people who are also believers be sure to build them up 'cause they're in the same boat you are, don't throw away what God has already  given you and don't ignore the good things he's trying to give you, etc. That's what much of early "church up-bringing" was about for me. Well, actually it was a lot more negative than that - it was mainly rules of w...

"Don't you miss ministry?" One of those questions that comes up occasionally.   There are aspects of "ministry" I missed at first and then I realized that I didn't have to or need to "miss them" since I don't have to work at/with a church to do them. And then I realized how misguided the language of the question is - at least in my mind - at this newer point in my life. IF I'm "following scripture" then ministry has nothing to do with a job, it's what you do with life. It's not a person with a certain college degree or title, it's someone who uses their interests and gifts to help others. Most of my life, I've been the beneficiary of people who have helped me and my family - connecting us to information, relationships, resources, etc - when we were in need, relative to the world around us. At some point in my early years, I realized this was what was going on and paid attention. I could see how "the system...