Religion and Spirituality
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Sometimes They Do Equal 5
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3 min read
I do think that sometimes 1+1=5. That doesn’t make me crazy. It means that we ought to account for our own blind spots. To help me explain, I’ve recruited my own daughter. As you can see, she has written an interesting equation on the white board. She is so proud of it, she wrote it…
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Killing the Wisdom of Youth
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4 min read
Think back to your junior year of high school. Remember the things that made your blood boil: what you really cared about. Have it? Now write down some words that come to mind. Just take about 2 minutes to do this exercise. Now look at the list. What do you notice? Who are you now…
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Just Cut the Church Programs
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5 min read
For several weeks I’ve been writing about engaging different groups in church. Then I wrote about dealing with time constraints and what it means for planning. Now, I am making a personal appeal for an entirely different approach: it is time to get rid of our programs. As Phyllis Tickle adeptly outlines in The Great…
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The Slave Is Neither Wicked Nor Lazy
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1 min read
Proper 28A, Matthew 25:14-30 This passage is known as the Parable of the Talents. Which is unfortunate, since it sometimes gives us the wrong idea. We think that it has something to do with investing our talents and treasure in the Kingdom of God. That’s what we normally preach. And we’d be wrong. We also preach…
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Why I Hate Announcement Time
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5 min read
My least favorite part of any worship service is the announcement time. There are so many things wrong with it and there are so few ways to actually fix it. I’m starting to think we should do away with the whole enterprise. Many Episcopal churches place the announcements in the middle of the service. Honestly,…
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The Bridegroom’s a Jerk; I Sure Hope God Isn’t
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1 min read
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…