Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

God

  • In this parable, (Matthew 25:1-13) with bridesmaids, waiting for the bridegroom, the easy reading is wrong.  It doesn’t work.  If we see this as being about…The Second Coming or Heaven after death or the perfect example of Christian community… Then God is an idiot. See, the easy reading makes us think two things: We need to prepare for…

  • I love when Jesus kicks our butts in the gospel.  Seriously.  Some people want shiny, happy gospel lessons for Sunday morning, full of sunshine and affirmation for hard work we’ve done not screwing up our lives completely.  Not me.  That’s my vision for lame. So this morning, the lectionary dialed up a juicy one: Matthew…

  • Over the last week or so, some really good Christians have written about the death penalty from a Christian perspective.  It has been in the public consciousness for the last few weeks.  I gave my own response recently. But in the responses, a curious thing happened.  There was what has to be this moment of…

  • [I have written several pieces on change and encourage you to find links to them here.] There is something startling about a Christian that doesn’t like change.  We have come to see our faith traditions as monolithic and unchanging.  We look back through our lives and we such static behavior coming from Christianity.  We are used to…

  • [A couple of weeks ago I began writing about change.  I argued that we are called to change and that we actually like change.  You may want to go back and read them both again.  Now I’m going to write about another aspect of change: intransigence.] One of the aspects of our view of change…

  • This morning I was at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Rome, Georgia.  What a day to make one’s first appearance as supply!  But they were gracious and welcoming and I think we made some good worship! Of course, preaching on such a day as this, it is impossible (or possible, but cowardly) to…