A proposed pipeline in my community has caused me to consider the nature of Christian faith and our lives as disciples. I’m not talking about the political, economic or environmental ramifications of pipelines, but the pros and cons of using the analogy of the Christian way of life, our discipleship, as a pipeline. On one hand, the idea of having
The mystery that surrounds us belongs to different modes of perception. That is why he said, “The heart has reasons the mind knows not of.” It is the heart that is able to see into that mystery. And it is why Paul said to the Ephesians, “I pray that God will enlighten the eyes of your heart, so you may
In his latest book, The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement, Michael Gorman argues that the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ atonement was to “create a transformed people, a (new) people living out a (new) covenant relationship with God together. Moreover, this people will not simply believe in
He described the Christian calendar as being like a spiral staircase: you come to the same point in the circle each year, but you have ascended higher up the stairs each year than you were the year before, or at least that is the purpose of the Christian calendar.
There I was, punching couch cushions, trying to keep my sudden, violent shouts muted so I wouldn’t wake up the kids. If you watched the University of Kentucky vs. Notre Dame college basketball game Saturday night, you know what I’m talking about: a nail-biter, an epic battle. “This is why we love sports,” a headline blazed the following morning. In
It has been said that the dinner table—that place where we eat, talk, and share life together with others—is an extension of the Eucharist.
The text for this sermon is Mark 2:13-22 Many of us have suffered a punch-the-clock kind of job. This is the kind of job that you see as a stepping stone, and you hope there may be a day when you do not have to live through its drudgery. Perhaps even now you currently yearn for the other side of
For Wesley, the purpose of fasting was not to lose weight or to be more physically healthy. Wesley believed fasting was crucial for the spiritual health of Jesus’ disciples.
The rise of the internet has created a perfect storm for growing numbers of men to become addicted. It is available. It is anonymous. I suspect no other generation of men – or their pastors – had such a collision of forces that are the same time both irresistible and destructive.
For some reason God seems to do the best character development work when we are in the wilderness. Throughout the biblical text we see people out in the wilderness or in the “wintertime” of their spiritual lives. It is often here that God decides to do something new. “Now my heart is returned to sister winter,” as singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens
Now that the heat sparked from the light shed on Vice President Mike Pence’s personal rules of not attending cocktail parties without his wife and of not dining alone with women has dwindled, let’s take a few moments to reflect more evenly on the practice of personal rules and boundaries in opposite-sex professional relationships in the pastoral context. I do
The dynamics of trust and obedience define the relational and personal dimensions of faith. We tend to treasure what we trust and trust what we treasure.
This has led me to wrestle through the following notion – the times when the first two rules of Methodism – “do no harm” and “do good” seem to be at odds.
At its most basic level, Christian faith is a centered, personal, relational response involving trust and obedience.
Whether you’re reading this at home or at work, let me ask you a question. What sort of signal do you give your neighbors? Do you extend welcoming hospitality or have you constructed walls for your personal safe haven? Go Home Ranch My wife and I once hired a handyman to build a lattice fence that would enclose a giant
Human identity is formed as we navigate a process of separating and joining. We become most fully who we are, not when we reach independence, but when we understand our interdependence and recognize that we are both separate and connected to those around us.
From the seven depictions of Christ’s crucifixion story, to the mother of Jesus holding her infant son as she stretched out her arms to the weeping worshipper, the entire chapel was an invitation to see our sufferings – our very humanity – in light of the fact that neither Jesus nor Mary were exempt from suffering, pain, or death.
The Holy Spirit is present, active, and involved with all of creation in a life-giving way.
As Christians, we have a great deal to say about the meaning of suffering.
Christ’s self-giving love overcomes human hatred while at the same time creating space within Christ to receive estranged humanity.
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