• Waking Up

    Waking Up

    I wake up when by body wakes me. I get out of bed because I have obligations. I fulfill my obligations because I value being a person who works hard. I work hard because I want to accomplish something. I want to accomplish something because I have a dream. I have a dream because I…

  • The Joy of Creating Something New

    The Joy of Creating Something New

    It starts from a deep source of frustration. That will to create, to build the next new thing. It begins with frustration. We aren’t happy or satisfied with what we have. Maybe it isn’t pretty or maybe it is harmful to us. What frustrates us can instead inspire us. About 10 months ago I changed…

  • GOD and Power

    GOD and Power

    In his interaction with the widow, the encounter’s parallel with Elijah, and his commissioning of apostles, we see that GOD is doing something big in Jesus — and with us.

  • Insane Consequences

    Insane Consequences

      INSANE CONSEQUENCES When did we justify brutality? A desk flipped with a student still in it, grabbed, hair pulled and thrown against the floor because apparently refusing to listen is enough of a reason to bring violence into the classroom. A shoplifter shot at in the parking lot. A police call to a Target a…

  • Upsetting the Apple Cart

    Upsetting the Apple Cart

    For this transgression roots down to the very foundation of how we understand faith. How Jesus keeps widening the circle Proper 4C  |  Luke 7:1-10 As we return to the gospel we call Luke after several weeks in John and the last two in Acts, the lectionary drops us off in a story of Jesus’s…

  • How Not To Solve a Problem

    How Not To Solve a Problem

    I find that the easiest part of a problem is testing to see if it’s a real problem. The hard part comes in knowing what to do about it. But I know two truths about problem solving: It doesn’t help to pretend that there is no problem. Or to confuse discussion for decision. If you…

  • So Let Me Get This Straight

    So Let Me Get This Straight

    These first Followers of the Way kept telling the story. They seemed to know that the story was important. That the story was what they were to share. Story, Trinity, and living our theology Trinity Sunday  |  John 16: 12-15   I recently remarked that there are two days I don’t like preaching: Christ the…

  • What a Young Pastor Hears When You Talk About Bivocational Ministry

    What a Young Pastor Hears When You Talk About Bivocational Ministry

    When you talk about bivocational ministry, what I hear is: We don’t value you.   [bctt tweet=”The church’s way of saying – figure it out on your own. Oh, and good luck with that.” username=”revdrewdowns”] Put your money where your mouth is Most of us were raised with the idea that value comes from financial…