In recent years I have heard about many non-traditional Lenten disciplines. Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston, provided his congregation a unique opportunity that "combines the ideas of sacrifice and devotion that mark the Lenten season." More specifically, he asked them to consider getting a tattoo of one of the stations of the cross. So What? Writing for CNN, Dan Merica reports that more than 50 people associated with the congregation Seay pastors have Read More …
Discipleship
Refocusing (#0661)
Staying focused is an ongoing challenge. There is so much one can do that it is easy to lose sight of what one is called to do. The urgent can override the important and the exciting can trump the routine. So What? Living a focused life requires intentional periods of refocusing. How do you refocus? When? What role does Sabbath play? Do you know yourself and your identity well enough to know when you are living an out of focus life? Do you have others in your life Read More …
Unusual and Unacceptable Excuses (#0660)
Marc Cortes, Academic Dean and an assistant professor of theology at Western Seminary, recently shared a picture of a piece of paper containing a list of reasons for which a professor will not accept late work. This one of a kind list includes: computer glitches bad planning embarrassing messages from “Mom” on your Facebook wall seeing your new brother in law on Cops unforeseen cataclysmic acts of God undergoing enhanced interrogation techniques Read More …
Why Do You Belong to Your Church? (#0658)
Christianity is not a Lone Ranger religion; it is experienced in community. In most cities or towns in American would be church goers have many options, including Protestant or Catholic, contemporary or traditional worship, theologically conservative or progressive, and small or large membership. So What? If you currently belong to a church (whether or not you are a member), think back to your original experiences that helped you discern this was the fellowship for you. Why did Read More …
What if Communion Tables Were Freed . . . ? (#0657)
Leslie Leyland Fields describes herself as "an award-winning author of eight books, a regular columnist and contributor to Christianity Today, a national speaker with Ambassador Speaker’s Bureau, and a sometimes commercial fisherwoman with her husband and 6 children, all of whom live on Kodiak Island, Alaska." Her latest "Stones to Bread" column in Christianity Today (March 2012) asks the question "if we have such an extravagant Savior, why are our Communion meals so paltry?" Read More …
#FF – Follow Friday (#0656)
Every Friday morning I wake up to a Twitter stream that differs from the other six days of the week because of #FF or Follow Friday. This weekly event is a way that those on Twitter can share who they value and encourage others to consider following those individuals (or entities). So What? Months ago I found that with each new Follow Friday I asked myself "who do I follow?" While this was a good way to evaluate my ever expanding list of those I follow on Twitter, it also pushed me Read More …
We Belong (#0652)
"We belong" is a two word summary of the sermon I heard the Rev. Dr. Ronald Patterson preach yesterday. That idea was so powerful that I chose to forgo the normal format for the sermon discussion group I have been facilitating the last several weeks. Patterson mentioned the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism (1563): What is your only comfort in life and in death? He also shared and built upon the answer. Our group, at my request, looked at the same issue Read More …
No Longer Divided: Virtual and Real (#0650)
Elizabeth Drescher is the author of Tweet If You Love Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and co-author of the forthcoming Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (2012). In a recent guest post for Union Theological Seminary's New Media Project she provided one of the best brief explanations of the shifts in life on and off-line: Social media participation has clearly become a real part of the lives of almost every American in nearly every demographic Read More …
Why Are You Still a Christian? (#0649)
Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University, recently shared why he is still a Christian on Ecclesio.com: On the lecture circuit I meet people every week for whom Christianity is a ruined word. They ask me nicely, or with puzzlement, or with hostility, why I am still a Christian. I try to explain that I was drawn long ago into the spirit and way of Jesus, which draws me like a magnet into its Read More …
Christianity is Bigger than That (#0647)
Bruce Reyes-Chow is a consultant who served as founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, until May of this year, and was the former moderator of the General Assembly of the 2.3 million member PCUSA. On the conservative Red Letter Christians blog he recently shared "An Open Letter to Frustrated Christians in the United States," featuring these words: Like many of you from across the theological and political spectrum, I am disturbed by the Read More …