• The Problem Is We Treat White Nationalists Like They Are Honest

    The Problem Is We Treat White Nationalists Like They Are Honest

    We seem to treat White Nationalists like their hate is normal. Like they’re the obnoxious kid we have to tolerate. Even after they’ve proven they’re more likely to be the sociopath threatening our community. A few years ago I was concerned by a growth in cyber-bullying. And at the time, it seemed like there was more to…

  • The Art of Love

    The Art of Love

    In overturning the tables in the temple and reimagining Sabbath law, Jesus invites us into a new relationship to our work. Not as adherents and citizens, but as artists and co-creators. Jesus invites us to be artists collaborating in a global masterpiece Lent 3B  | John 2:13-22 This church may have a lot of doors…

  • This Got Me Thinking About Our Society

    This Got Me Thinking About Our Society

    Cynicism is destructive. And it’s turning our society into something we don’t want. But solutions are all around us. We just need to listen to the voices which help us see them. Listening to podcasts is like research. Most of the time, you get what you expect and it informs your worldview. But then there…

  • Condemning Our Fear of Silence

    Condemning Our Fear of Silence

    In the first Passion prediction in Mark 8:31-38, Peter speaks when he should be listening, revealing how important it is to listen — because we’re likely to get the mission of Jesus wrong. We are so bothered by silence, we struggle to hear Jesus Lent 2B  |  Mark 8:31-38 This story of Jesus is one…

  • Love Awakens

    Love Awakens

    Another shooting, further proof of the dangerous social pathologies in the American body politic, could be just a number. But instead, it’s awakening the spirit of love long dormant and suppressed by fear and a narrow understanding of freedom. Last week, I had to write a new sermon. The gospel was about the beginning of…

  • The Frightening Case Of a Coming American Collapse

    The Frightening Case Of a Coming American Collapse

    The United States is in the midst of a social collapse. That’s the claim Umair Haque makes in an electric essay. Here are his three main takeaways. If the United States were to collapse, how would we know it? We think we’d know, right? Structures would fall, the banks would run out of money, and…

  • Facing Repentance

    Facing Repentance

    In Mark 1:9-15, Jesus reveals the mission of God, but another school shooting tests our resolve to see it, or to listen to his words of hope, saying that the time is now, kin-dom is here! A school shooting tests Ash Wednesday’s invitation to reconciliation Lent 1B  |  Mark 1:9-15 I had a really good…

  • Ashes and Hearts – On Fire

    Ashes and Hearts – On Fire

    Most of what we talk about on Ash Wednesday is found in the small part of the Sermon on the Mount we get in the lectionary (Matthew 6:1-6,16-21). The rest of the chapter reveals it means so much more. Ash Wednesday is way more than ashes – it’s the work of forgiveness Ash Wednesday  | …