Something - someone - some force drew us here this morning. Regardless of what compelled our presence, we are now in a holy house - a sacred space that can become a temple of transformation. On the mountaintop and in the clouds, On common paths and in familiar places, God is speaking. In embraces and through stories of others, In our experiences and through our imaginations, Help us hear. Together, as the beloved community, let us worship God. Notes: Read More …
Discipleship
Stunning Sacred Spaces (#0997)
Best College Reviews recently published a list of the 30Most Beautiful College Chapels/Cathedrals. While their list is presented in rank order and features sacred spaces with very different histories and architecture, the corresponding article contains no information about the criteria by which the spaces were selected or ranked. So What? I have visited several sacred spaces on college campuses and far more that have no link to an institution of higher education. I suspect most of my Read More …
Nonviolent Civil Disobedience (#0996)
John Dear, peace activist and the author of over 30 books, recently wrote these challenging words: If we want to follow the nonviolent Jesus, then we’ll want to make the journey from baptism to community, to understanding the Sermon on the Mount, to serving those in need, to working for justice and practicing nonviolence, and eventually, sooner or later, in such a world of war, empire and nuclear weapons, to crossing the line, engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience and risking the cross and Read More …
11 Minutes (#0993)
Today, along with a hundred million or so other viewers in the US, I will watch the Super Bowl. In recent years, I have shifted my focus from the game to more of a balance between the game and the commercials. While everyone knows it takes many hours to play a 60 minute long professional football game, it is a bit surprising to learn that the actual playing time amounts to just under 11 minutes (10 minutes and 43 seconds according to a recent Wall Street Journal study). So Read More …
Amenities Over Ministry? (#0992)
Tyler Kingkade's recent Huffington Post article considers a somewhat disturbing trend in higher education: increased investing in amenities like student services and activities, athletics and facilities. His article considers research by The National Bureau of Economic Research published earlier in January as "College as Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?" So What? The cost of higher education keeps climbing higher and higher as does student Read More …
Debt & Depression (#0986)
Lawrence Berger, a University of Wisconsin at Madison associate professor of social work, recently published his research findings suggesting the nature of the relationship between debt and depression. Although his work relied upon data from an era when housing was more secure and student loan debts were smaller (4,755 individuals from 1987 to 1989 and 1992 and 1994 in the National Survey of Families and Households), his findings are worth noting. Overall, when "the dollar Read More …
Religion is Morally Neutral (#0976)
An account of a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu includes Tutu's words below, which explain how he understands religion as morally neutral: And you have to remember that religion is of itself neither good nor bad . . . Religion is a morally neutral thing. It is what you do with it. It is like a knife, a knife is good when you use it for cutting up bread for sandwiches. A knife is bad when you stick it in somebody’s gut. Religion is good when it produces a Dalai Read More …
The Scandal of American Christianity (#0975)
In response to Candace Chellew-Hodge's recent interview question about religion and wealth, progressive Christian scholar Marcus Borg offers these wise words: The scandal of American Christianity today is that it is deeply divided not only about issues like biblical inerrancy and evolution, but it's deeply divided between a conservative vision of Christianity that emphasizes that what really matters morally is personal morality, the behavior of individuals . . . On the other side of Read More …
Pastoral Regrets (#0973)
Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently asked more than twenty pastors who had been in ministry for at least 25 years a single question: “What regrets do you have about the years you have served as a pastor?” The top seven answers follow: Lack of practical training for local church ministry Overly concerned about critics Failure to exercise faith Not enough time with family Failure to understand basic business and finance issues Failure to Read More …
Self-Appraisal Statement (#0970)
My understanding of who I am is shaped more by following the way of Jesus than any other factor. I strive to live the love of neighbor Jesus taught by embodying an ever-widening inclusiveness of the circle of those I count as neighbor. My academic preparation for Christian ministry in schools affiliated with three traditions, varied roles in parish ministry in congregations affiliated with four additional denominations, and interactions with those in the wider family of faith through Read More …