May 23, 2019 | Uncategorized
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost...
May 16, 2019 | Uncategorized
There’s a proportional relationship between the size of the God that lives in our imagination and the size of the Pharaohs we defy! Small idea of God… small resolve to defy even the smallest of pharaohs. Big imagining of God… great resolve to defy even...
May 9, 2019 | Uncategorized
Not exactly sure when I learned the words of the 23rd Psalm. I do know that my wife and I were careful to teach it to our children. I know as life has grown and become more complex, the words “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I...
May 2, 2019 | Uncategorized
If Peter got a second chance on that first Easter morning, so can we. So have we! This is the Easter message: You are more than your worst day… so is the individual or group of people you struggle to love. You are more than the pain you have suffered or caused....
Apr 25, 2019 | Uncategorized
What do you mean when you say that you’re a Christian? Do you mean more than a system of moral teaching? Do you mean more than a building you visit regularly or irregularly? Or, do you mean you’ve experienced a transfer of power from a garbage dump outside of...
Apr 19, 2019 | Uncategorized
Easter has a pattern. It begins in darkness almost at the point of despair. That’s when God shows up. That’s when God opens what is shut and un-openable. Then comes the part where we partner with God just like the women at the tomb. God rolled the stone away...
Apr 18, 2019 | Uncategorized
Good Friday is God’s way of saying that we should not avoid reality. Jesus didn’t circumvent it, neither must we. Good Friday begs that we find our real God in the reality of our lives. Even the painful parts. Especially the painful parts! We have a God...
Apr 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
After the stories, healings, feedings and miracles, Jesus heads to Jerusalem. He knew the stakes and went anyway. He goes because he knows this is the place where they “kill the prophets.” Where the system is thick and dynamic with abuse. We would’ve told him,...
Apr 3, 2019 | Uncategorized
We live in a tumultuous time. What corrodes us individually and institutionally is an abiding and advancing sense of futility! Does it matter? Who cares? Can anything change? The paralyzing toxin of futility is in the world and in the church. The saddest part...
Mar 29, 2019 | Uncategorized
God told “Joshua, today I roll away the reproach of Egypt.” This means God is doing three things, rolling away: 1) the disgrace of being slaves in Egypt. 2) the shame of the Egyptians laughing at them and their God. 3) the shame of not being circumcised–a sign...
