Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Scripture

  • Proper 22A    Text: Matthew 21:33-46 Like last week, the lectionary has us dealing with some pretty tough stuff.  It should come as no surprise since this all takes place during Jesus’s final week.  Jesus has entered Jerusalem in a mock triumphal entry with his merry band of misfits and enormous crowd of followers.  The group…

  • David R. Henson wrote today about a missed opportunity to attack evil: evil in the form of stay-at-home dads.  We are clearly where sin resides.  Read about it here!

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • If you say the phrase “God will provide” in the Downs house, you’ll likely get your mouth taped shut.  Not by me, but by my wife: she’s the pragmatist.  “God doesn’t pay the electric bill!” she’ll retort. Since I was let go, we’ve been facing this very issue; trusting in GOD while trying to understand…

  • In the first Sunday of Lent, we read about the Temptation of Jesus.  But is Jesus really tempted?  Or is there something else going on?  Who really needs to worry about temptation?  And what is Lent really about? If you were at St. Paul’s on Sunday, you may already know, but the rest of us…