Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Videos

  • For the last two and a half chapters in the gospel we call Luke, Jesus has been building up this teaching on faithfulness and action. It began with the crowd when he told them three parables about things that were lost and found. Each was lost, redeemed, and forgiven. Powerful stories that we often take…

  •   In this parable about a manager and his master (Luke 16:1-13), we have one of the most resented parables in gospels. The reason for this is clear. It is a shockingly obnoxious story about deception that seems to say things about GOD we don’t like. Or worse, it leads good people to make ridiculous…

  • Rob Bell’s new book, What We Talk About When We Talk about God is out tomorrow. It is a subject that is near my heart. Hopefully this video will tide you over or whet your appetite.

  • Last week, we had the temptation in the desert, the quintessential Lenten text. This time, we get Angry Jesus. I have a soft spot for Angry Jesus. What Jesus is angry about is the stuff we already know, but rarely give attention to. It falls into two parts: the hypocrisy of leaders and their support…

  • As a preacher, I love the lectionary for its seasons, but hate all of the jumping around! This week’s story comes in between the Baptism (1/13) and the visit to the synagogue (1/20 & 27). Now we jump back to the middle. But that might be able to help us understand what is going on.…

  • This week’s Eating Scripture was derailed by my birthday and a funeral. Hopefully your appetite is insatiable! This week, we get the second half of the Jesus preaching in the synagogue story. The first half was all sunshine and butterflies and the second is all violence and horror.There are some incredible pieces to chew on…