Drew Downs
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Continuing a failed war on terror is a moral failure
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10 min read
The great moral failure wasn’t only in launching the war on terror, it has been in continuing it in spite of all the moral and statistical evidence. The social share title reads “The scene of America’s longest war is now world’s terrorism hotspot”. Nearly 18 years into the war on terror, this headline should be…
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A New Chance
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8 min read
In Luke 21:25-36, we get a vision of the end which usually trips our fears, but Jesus reminds us that he’ll be with us, standing against the fear. In Advent, we begin with the end, because the end is only the beginning. Advent 1C | Luke 21:25-36 There’s a saying: Begin with the end in…
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Not a King
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8 min read
There’s a fundamental flaw in calling Jesus the king. But it isn’t just our perception of kings. It’s how it changes our relationship to Jesus. Proper 29B | 2 Samuel 23:1-7, Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19), John 18:33-37 I’ve heard the argument for an American king. It goes something like this. Our president has two jobs: being…
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tearing down temples
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9 min read
In Mark’s Little Apocalypse, Jesus invites us to see what we’d rather avoid: not only the finitude of existence but the challenge of a life of trusting God. How our temples deny our trust Proper 28B | Mark 13:1-8 I don’t envy the disciples. Here they are, marveling the enormity of the Temple, looking at the…
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an ideal marriage
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9 min read
On Saturday, a bishop of the church rejected the authority of the Episcopal Church. The next morning, scripture rebuked him. Of course, nobody thinks this started on Saturday. We’ve been fighting about sex for decades. But Saturday, something new happened. Bishop William Love, as The Episcopal Bishop of Albany, you wrote a pastoral letter to…
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Devouring Their Houses
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8 min read
Jesus doesn’t simply criticize the priests for their hubris, he exposes the whole system for its corruption, exploitation, and rejection of the poor. of poverty and hubris in the Temple Proper 27B | Mark 12:38-44 Less than a week after starting at my first congregation out of seminary, I went to my first clericus—a meeting of…