Church
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What If the Church Believed in Eternal Life?
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4 min read
When Jesus speaks of eternal life, he isn’t talking about forever. Many of us learn this in seminary or when we read books about scripture. That this phrase Jesus uses*, “eternal life” doesn’t mean what we think it means. Or to be more precise, doesn’t communicate only the narrow understanding we take it for. The…
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Emergence Is Not a Fad
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6 min read
Using Words We have a communication problem in the church. About change, tradition, our existing culture. We struggle to understand each other when we talk about our liturgy and our patterns of worship and our expectations of leadership. We argue that we want our church to have a more engaged role in the community, but…
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Food Allergies Are a Big Deal
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2 min read
Food allergy is more common than before. Much more common. 50% more of our children have allergies than children two decades ago. We all know a child with at least one allergy; it is statistically certain. At the same time, I find a willful ignorance on the subject. I hear complaints of inconvenience. I see…
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6 Ways We Made This Easter Special
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4 min read
Every church with whom I’ve ever celebrated has made a lovely to-do about Holy Week and Easter. They all are different, which is part of the joy and excitement for me to celebrate in a new congregation. I am always excited to see how we do things here. This year was my favorite by far. Let me tell…
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Tearing Down the Temple
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8 min read
Jesus’s call for the end of faith as we know it Now, Jesus isn’t pushing us toward a churchless faith, a religionless spirituality, or independent devotion. Jesus doesn’t attack the institution because it is an institution but because the leadership of the existing institution is corrupt. Because how they understand scripture is corrupt. Because the…
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Make the Kingdom
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7 min read
What Ash Wednesday tells us about what Jesus really wants. It is a time of wrestling with weighty issues of faith and of community; of justice and of the nature of GOD. To wrestle and prepare one another for greater unity. To heal the broken, to care for the weak, to help flip over and…