Today our nation observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While many people know about The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., far fewer are familiar with any of his sermons beyond "I Have a Dream." I invite you to take a few minutes to read two excerpts from Dr. King's sermon entitled "Guidelines for a Constructive Church," which he preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on June 5, 1966. This morning I would like to submit to you that we who are followers of Jesus Christ, and Read More …
US Army’s Controversial Spiritual Fitness Test (#0244)
The United States Army may be sued as early as next week over a controversial well-being assessment that includes questions designed to measure spiritual fitness. The assessment in question is a part of the Army's Comprehensive Solider Fitness (CSF) program, which was announced in October 2009 with an estimated cost of $125 million. According to the Army: The purpose of the CSF program is to enhance the performance and readiness of the force by giving Read More …
Review of The Heartbeat of God (#0243)
Katharine Jefferts Schori. The Heartbeat of God: Finding the Sacred in the Middle of Everything. Skylight Paths, 2011. ISBN: 9781594732928. Meet the Author The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori is the twenty-sixth Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. In that role, she serves as the chief pastor to the Episcopal Church's 2.4 million members in 16 countries and 110 dioceses. Jefferts Schori entered the priesthood when she was ordained in 1994 following a Read More …
Contemporvant Worship: Too Close To Reality? (#0242)
A generation ago many congregations began adding "contemporary" worship services. While any style of worship can be done well and in ways that clearly glorify God, any style is also capable of falling well short of those standards. The following video about "contemporvant" (a made up word created by blending contemporary and relevant) worship illustrates what can happen when contemporary worship loses its way. So What? According to multiple sources, this video was produced by Read More …
Five Days Later: Thoughts and Prayers (#0241)
Five days ago in Tucson, Arizona six people were killed and 14 others wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. These deaths and injuries occurred because of the violent actions of one man. Regardless of your political affiliation or citizenship status in this country, I invite you to take a few moments to consider these thoughts and prayers today. Thoughts Last night, President Obama started his speech with these words: To the families of those we've Read More …
Review of Spiritual Envy (#0240)
Michael Krasny. Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic's Quest. New World Library, 2010. ISBN: 9781577319122. Meet the Author Michael Krasny is a professor of English at San Francisco State University, where he has taught since 1970. He is a widely published scholar and literary critic as well as a fiction writer. Krasny is the co-author of Sound Ideas (2009) and author of Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life (2007) and Spiritual Envy: An Read More …
Serving God or Serving the Church? (#0239)
Donald Miller is the author of several books including A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing my Life (2009) and Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (2003). To connect with him, read his blog, like him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. This past week, he posted, "Is Church Life Stifling Your Creativity?," which concludes with these words: Here’s the point of this blog post: There is a difference between what “the church” Read More …
Studying the Beatitudes in Real Time (#0238)
A few days ago, I blogged about my ongoing quest to learn more about Jesus. In that post I suggested that 2011 may be a year I devote considerable time to examining Jesus' preaching via the Sermon on the Mount. Since that time, I learned of a unique opportunity to study the Beatitudes, which lead off Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12). Kimberly Knight, Circuit Rider and web admin for the Beatitudes Society, recently blogged about a new interactive live Read More …
Doritos for Eucharist Super Bowl Ad Has Been Sidelined (#0237)
Doritos and Pepsi MAX received more than 5,600 submissions for this year's edition of their Crash the Super Bowl contest, which started in 2007. The field has now been narrowed to a group of finalists and interested parties are now invited to vote for their favorite. Interestingly, one popular option, Feed the Flock, isn't included on the list and has been removed from the contest because it created considerable controversy. Submitted by Media Wave Productions this ad is Read More …
A Year With the Sermon on the Mount (#0236)
For the last few years, I have been studying the life and ministry of Jesus in an attempt to more fully answer the question: “Who is Jesus?” A few months ago I wrote series of posts sharing areas of emphasis in my study of Jesus over the last several years: prayers, parables, priorities, and creed. Recently, I read a blog that has led me to ponder the possibility of spending some time focusing on preaching. That blog, "A Year With the Sermon on the Mount," encourages Read More …