Author: Drew Downs

  • In-Between – Luke 11:14-12:13

    In-Between – Luke 11:14-12:13

    In this in-between, we get a whole host of teaching on what loving does and doesn’t look like.

  • Don’t Just Fact-Check Those Racist Tweets

    Don’t Just Fact-Check Those Racist Tweets

    The bigger argument doesn’t rely on facts. Fact-checking racist tweets is only so useful. But it is really, really enticing. When the president suggested four U.S. Representatives “go back” to other countries he offered the kind of red meat few can resist. Not that resisting that impulse is actually better. It is not. But many…

  • Becoming Samaritan

    Becoming Samaritan

    In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus isn’t giving us a natural reversal of roles. He’s exposing how our bias actually works. learning to love in a culture of hateProper 10C | Luke 10:25-37 Good stories like this one have many layers. We can peel back one to see what’s underneath. Then peel again.…

  • The In-Between – Luke 10:21-24

    The In-Between – Luke 10:21-24

    A look at the gaps in the lectionary. This week: the gap between Proper 9C and Proper 10C. As a preacher, the lectionary is a godsend. And like a movie studio demanding the director cut essential material to shorten a film’s running time, many of the lectionary’s jumps feel like an unfortunate necessity. But I’ve…

  • Making Peace

    Making Peace

    Jesus sends us out to proclaim peace. But some people we like don’t want to hear it.

  • Consumed by Hate

    Consumed by Hate

    God’s love isn’t transactional. It restores us all.

  • Love Ambassadors

    Love Ambassadors

    The power in the story of the man healed of so many demons is not simply that he finds someone to love him. It’s that he becomes a multiplier of love. receiving God’s love to give it awayProper 7C | Luke 8:26-39 When you walk into this room, I always wonder what you’re thinking about.…

  • In the Trinity

    The doctrine of the Trinity is a paradox. We totally hate paradoxes.