FOUNDRYcast

With Chad out for a few weeks for sick leave, we are hearing stories from those who are part of Foundry. Ben is one of the original leaders of the church and is a pediatric behavioral therapist in North Louisiana. He shares a story learned while working at summer camp in college. 

Each time I lead a funeral service, I include a handful of passages from John 14. They are meant for us to feel comfort, understand the place of death, and reflect on what and where Jesus currently is. In John 14 are many of our favorite readings about Jesus and His love towards us. We learn of the Holy Spirit and get a little insight into why Jesus had to leave. "Don't let your hearts be troubled...

When I was in High School, our principal was a pretty big guy. He actually started at our high school as a freshman the first year it opened, came back after college and began coaching and teaching at his alma mater. Eventually, he became principal. And he was pretty awesome. He set the state bench press record when he was in high school and it supposedly still stood while he was principal. Rumor...

When I was a kid I remember my parents being amazed at how quickly I could work through a transformer. Every now and then my Dad would pick one up and attempt it. He'd quickly be lost. Now, my niece knows how to change the brightness setting on my iPhone. There is this thing about kids being able to teach us lessons we can't learn for ourselves. Jesus, when confronted with a difficult question for...

We are currently producing both devotional content AND the full audio text of Pursuit of God for our discipleship system. Here is a teaser with the devotional content for the preface and the full book text. For more information, go to wearefoundry.com/pursuit

When Meredith and I were engaged I came up with a rule for when we were registering for things. I got to hold the registration gun. You know, the electronic scanner that puts stuff on your digital registry? I felt like it was attempting to maintain some sort of influence over all of the rather unexciting things that are part of showers and getting married. In short, I felt the need to be in contro...

This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,      on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts,      as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,      but deliver us from the evil one.'   Matthew 6:7-9

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.   A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  "I am willing,"  he said.  "Be clean!"  Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.   Then Jesus said to him,  "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the...

Ever got into one of those situations where a pack of kids just experienced something and are all attempting to explain it to you at the same time? If you know the bunch, you typically learn to listen to each one of them with a different ear. You've got the funny kid, the kid bad things always happen to, the kid that exaggerates everything…and the kid that is pretty true to the actual event. Any t...

This year we are spending our time each Sunday on a different passage from one of the four gospels. Why? Well, if we are claiming to follow Jesus, couldn't we all benefit from a clearer picture of what He told us? In a day where even religion is becoming polarized, let us fix our eyes on the author and perfector of our faith. So about this first sermon. Well, it's the one the writer of Luke placed...

What does it mean for Jesus to call us to specific ministry, especially with those we encounter in our community and neighborhoods? Chad shares this passage from John 1 with us.  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!   30  This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.'...

For Foundry, much of our vision comes from John 1:14. So the word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. John 1:14 NLT Since the beginning, we've looked to this to understand not only how Jesus is in our world, but how He calls us to be in our world. Eugene Peterson, in his tra...

Remember that awkward conversation you've had with someone? You know…the one where you are trying to figure out what the relationship is actually like? When I was in high school, in the mid-90's we called it the DTR. As in "define the relationship". It could be good or it could be not so good. There were always based off of how one person interpreted the interaction with the other. Sometimes it wa...

Do you ever feel like you just don't want to do Christmas? It's alright. It happens from time to time. I  created a video  a few years ago on my own bah-humbugness. We all have these different factors at play during the holidays. But if we are honest with ourselves, that doesn't come close to grinch levels. I don't think any of us have ever plotted to wipe Christmas from the face of the earth. We...

This week, Rev. Alan Johnson, the director of the ULM Wesley Foundation and Foundry board member is sharing the message. Alan always brings a great conversation to Foundry (check out this one about a demon-possessed man).  Back in the 90's when I was in college and really beginning to step into my faith, Max Lucado was writing a lot of books. One of the first books I read during those times was  G...

It's been one of my favorite Christmas conversations of the last few years. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?* To really answer that, we have to look at what makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie? There is a typical pattern. You have to have a great story, in need of a rescue. (check). You have to have a person who seems to be in need of a miracle. (check). You need to have a situation where peop...

I sometimes feel like filling ourselves up is a prerequisite for Thanksgiving. We all have those favorite things to enjoy. And many of us gather around the table and each answer a question along the lines of "What are you thankful for this year?". But what if we look at being thankful 365 days a year, and especially thankful in the way scripture talks about the action of thanks Paul digs big into...

These last few weeks, we have been talking about the different ways leaders engage with God and work inside of his mission. We learned from Nehemiah that "Burdens Break Us for the Mending of Others" Last week, we learned in Jeremiah that Jesus guides on down a path of repentance surrounded by his remaking of our life.  We are finishing up these conversations this week with a story from the book of...

So let's get straight to it. Why does the average person, the everyday "normal" Christian, have problems seeing the power of God in their life?  I think it's because we fail to take a personal stance on the idea of repentance. Repentance, which means to "turn" in, is an excruciating personal word. We can't really cast it off. For us to repent, we have to admit we have things we need to turn from....

When was the first time your heart hurt? Not some high school love heartbreak, but a genuine brokenness for other people. For me, it was seeing the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The storm didn't affect my family, but it had changed the lives of many of my friends. It was also felt like it was in my own backyard. I remember gutting a house, 9 months after the storm, that stood not 150ft from wher...

How comfortable are you with the unknown? Finding something that you know you need, but you don't know exactly what it is can be terrifying? It's a dangerous thing. It's also tiring. Have you ever been looking for something, or desiring something…and simply giving up and going back to what you know? We are all trying to find something. What direction are we looking towards? What God gives us today...

As we look at the world around us, I think it would be hard to realize we struggle with the idea of morality. Did you know we have a significant issue even talking about it? In this article , Jonathan Merritt shares how tough it is finding words to use for religious conversations. In it, he references a study that shows our usage of words of the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, ki...

What does it mean to be a good person? That's a tough question. I'm sure you have as big of a definition as I do. For the most part, we can probably look at these two verses and think this makes up a good, short list of what it means to be a good person. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and se...

Weakness can be a tough thing. How do you handle things you struggle with not doing? Or maybe it's a part of your personality that isn't part of you? If you are a fan of any sort of business or management strategy like Gallup's Strengthfinders, you probably do everything you can to eliminate the need to function in the realm of your weaknesses. As we journey into an investigation of the Fruits of...