It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even though its the week before Thanksgiving. If you travel, if you have kids, if you have people coming over, or if you work at a church (or all of the above) plans have to be made now. Who has to be where when? What are they […]
Tasteless Salt and Hidden Lights
I was 9 years old when President Reagan was shot. At 13 the Challenger had a much bigger impact on a kid in the Young Astronauts Club. As a first year seminary student I watched the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombings. It wouldn’t be until September 11, 2001 that anything would surpass that. These […]
No “Buts”
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17 But what if (I think) they deserve it… But what if (I think) they haven’t done what they could for themselves… But what if (I think) its politically motivated… But what if […]
The Virtue of Doubt
Let’s be clear from the beginning, the opposite of doubt is not faith. The opposite of doubt is arrogance. The arrogance that our beliefs and understanding are completely and unassailablly correct. When we doubt in a religious context it is not God we doubt, it is our understanding of God. This is a good thing. […]
Sabbathing
I do not have enough silence in my life. Silence is not just the absence of sound, it is the place the mind and soul can rest. Biblically we have the Sabbath, Sabbath Years, and Jubilee in the Law. Elijah hears God in the still small whisper among the chaos. Jesus so often retreats to […]
Fish hooks for Leviathan
Job asks, “Why do I, a righteous man, suffer?” God responds, “None of your business.” Hardly satisfactory. Thus, we attempt to find reasons, personal ones, behind all tragedies. Whether it be gays, liberals, Trump, or people who put mayo on peanut butter sandwiches, we want great disasters to mean something. Personally, we want to think […]