Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

  • The never-ending story of GOD a Homily for Advent 2B  |  Text: Mark 1:1-8   The Beginning The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This gospel, given to us by the writer we call Mark, opens with a declaration of beginning. It does not say this is the beginning,…

  • I drove across town to Maple Avenue United Methodist Church. It was dark, cold; the streets were wet. I was running late, but thankfully it started late. The room was nowhere near full. But it was diverse. Wide variety in ages, including college students and some much older. There was also ethnic and gender diversity.…

  • Darkness, Advent, and what the Light is really for. We need this reminder now more than ever. That we aren’t children of darkness. We are children of the light. That the darkness in the world is not imposed upon us by an angry GOD, but comes from fear and prejudice. We are the light-bearers, the…

  • or The Gospel According to The Walking Dead [NOTE: Some series and season 5 spoilers follow.] It seems as if The Walking Dead brings out the most cynical side of us. It shouldn’t surprise me that a show about the post-apocalyptic world of zombie infestation would tread regularly into the hopelessness of nihilism. This was particularly true…

  • That is our certainty. It is found being where GOD is. Where GOD says GOD will be. It isn’t found in our stated beliefs or creeds or political affiliation or what our Sunday School teachers taught us about GOD: it is about how we treat the powerless and the defenseless.

  • Untalented

    How the talents Jesus speaks of aren’t really gifts a Homily for Proper 28A   |  Text: Matthew  23:34-39 And the master rewards this behavior (dare we say, stealing) of the first two slaves. They know what this man is like. Chances are, they take on this behavior. Think The Wolf of Wall Street and the…