Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

  • Why Style is Not the Problem with Church

    •

    2 min read

    One of the easiest fights in church is over worship music. Everyone has an opinion and feels comfortable sharing it. Another is liturgical style: how we worship and the tools we use in our worship. For centuries we heard snide remarks that “smells and bells” in church was “papish” and “Roman”, spitting these claims like…

    0

  • We are Witnesses

    •

    7 min read

    From the tomb to our lives Easter 3B  |  Luke 24:36b-48 The Physical Resurrection This moment we receive here in this third Sunday of Easter is another gospel treatment of the resurrection. At the vigil, we had Mark’s empty tomb, then on Sunday we had John’s empty tomb. Last week we had Jesus’s appearance to…

    0

  • Don’t have time for taking sides

    •

    4 min read

    In a defensive rant a sci-fi author describes the concerns he has posed for his side. In a rising conflict over church practice, parishioners appeal for others to take their side. On Facebook, you post a meme about gender politics and your friends try to convince you that you are betraying your side. Or your other friends tell…

    2

  • The delicate disposition of the white southern man

    •

    2 min read

    After Rusty had killed the man (He shot him in the back) he needed to reshape the evidence. That man–he came at me! This, of course, was hogwash But the shots were justified (All 12 of them to the back) self-defense is such an easy excuse – he came at me! – he would claim…

    2

  • Friday Favorites – Podcasts

    •

    3 min read

    I listen to a lot of podcasts and subscribe to even more. If you don’t, you’re missing out. For those who know the “NPR moment” well: imagine having them any time! Or perhaps every time you are in your car. Imagine hearing the show from the beginning all the way to the end! For those whose Pandora stations have gotten stale: there…

    0

  • I’m Reevaluating the Cross

    •

    1 min read

    After listening to Tony Jones speak about his new book, Did God Kill Jesus on Homebrewed Christianity, I found myself being pushed into new territory in my faith. Partly because I probably am one of those progressive Christians who wants to sanitize the faith and take the blood out of it. I think there’s more…

    0