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The parable of the deceitful contractors
A family was huddled in their house. The power had gone out briefly. They hadn’t packed provisions. Unsure of what was really going on outside. Then, a knock at the door. On the porch, a group of men and women, water dripping from umbrellas begin to speak. “I know it is nasty outside, but we…
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Dualism
I am often the victim of analysis paralysis. Some situations seem too complex to be decisive. Other times, I get lost in the concern for others: how they feel about a situation, or what they might want to make of it. One way to deal with complexity is to simplify the problem through dualities. I…
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10 things to know about marriage and the church
My grandfather loves to tell the story of how he and my grandmother first got together. He thinks it’s a sweeter story than it really is. He relishes the telling and loves to watch Grandma squirm as he goes. He builds it up, giving the reader clues about how he needed to woo her and…
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What is the right kind of website for your church?
With millions of websites out there, and a huge number of those being church and ministry websites, it is hard to figure out exactly what to do about your church’s website. I have one rule about church websites: Your church website must reflect who you are today and where you think you are heading tomorrow.…
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A word about mercy
Mercy is a gift to unburden a heavy soul, not an excuse to live without consequence. Considering all that we’re dealing with right now, we could use the reminder.
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Word obsessed
Lately, though, words have begun to mean even more to me. Not simply because I write, teach, and preach as a priest or as a sentry posted to defend orthodoxy from the heretics. [That’s all nonsense to me, by the way.] But because our faith keeps coming back to words. Simply words. Having words. Words…
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4 things all Christians want
Though we may seem obsessed with ways in which people of faith are different, there are several things which are common among all Christians. Here are a few things upon which we can all agree we want. 1. Peace I like to joke that the safest thing to want is world peace, since every beauty scholarship contestant knows…
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Shouldn’t sacraments be alike?
A Should’ve Asked Question When we bring new people into the faith, we often ask them to memorize a short phrase from the back of the Book of Common Prayer. A phrase that many of us can rattle off with little trouble. At least the first half of it, anyway. We sit, Prayer Books in hand…