This book is confusing. I have been reading it - off and on - since I received my third-grade bible with bonded leather with red letters. I have spent countless hours studying in the basement of a seminary, with friends and strangers, and around dining room tables and I can tell you this - I have not figured it out.
Read MoreThe DIY faith Paul is writing to correct calls us away from quick-fix solutions, and towards grace and mercy, telling us the work of Christ was and continues to be insufficient. Paul was calling the ancient church away from revolutionized human teachings - three-quick and easy steps and back to a life of extravagance.
Read MoreFoolishness, according to Jesus, is not merely a flippant attitude but instead is an obsession/need for more - greed.
Read MoreWe cannot fully understand or recognize the extravagant mercy of the Good Samaritan until we ourselves have been pulled from the ditch by Christ.
Read MoreTo make Paul’s words through this entire letter plain - Simply put… it is foolish to think we can fool G-d with self-righteous works of the Law to achieve salvation. Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are sufficient for all people.
Read MoreAs the confirmands receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads and the baptismal waters flow off of your head Milana, we as a community will pray that the Holy Spirit take up residence inside you, inside the confirmands, moving, prodding, and leading you all to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Read MoreIf the hand tells the food it is not needed and can be cutoff, the body is not unified.
Read MoreThe premise of Naked & Afraid is to find out whether or not, when someone is in their most vulnerable state, can they survive? With the bare minimum, can a team of people thrive? It is great reality television but what draws many to the show, I suspect, is that many of us expect our day-to-day lives to be like this. We feel exposed before the world and thriving is off the table because we are just trying to survive.
Read MoreWe ask questions with predetermined answers in our minds and when the answer from the responding party does not fit our expectations or needs, we keep asking. We keep asking because we need empirical truths, we think to produce faith.
Read MoreThe calling extended to Peter, “Follow me,” is the same calling extended to each of us when we emerge from our baptismal waters. This calling - “Follow Me” - is an invitation to meet Christ at his table, but “Follow me” is also an invitation to experience the fullness of the freedom extended to us by the power of Jesus’ Easter victory - the final victory over our captivity to sin and death.
Read MoreFaith that comes from the peace of Christ is not something we do or attain on our own. We see throughout Christ’s ministry, death, and now in the aftermath of the resurrection - in the light of the empty tomb - faithfulness in places where our own faithfulness falls short. Regardless of our demands for signs to subside our doubts the faithfulness of Christ provides us with the peace we need.
Read MoreThe shadow of the cross blinds us to the peace of heaven spilling over into creation. Domination through ruthlessness - Pax Roma - is no match for the justice and mercy - Pax Christi - of the Kingdom of God.
Read MoreThe Lord is telling Israel, “yes I did a new thing in bringing you out of slavery. And yes, you are being provided for in a barren land where not even the wild beasts can survive. I know it is hard for you to see it because you have become hardened by life but if you could just look at the world with possibility and joy you will see the best is yet to come.”
Read MoreChrist’s resurrection, overcoming the power and defeat of death, is what has made us able to live in the newness of what G-d is creating. Resurrection was and is divine transformation and renewed our relationship, humanity’s relationship, with our Creator.
Read MorePaul wrote to a church in Philippi contending with issues of arrogance and disunity. Arrogance and disunity act as prohibitors to imitating Christ’s love as a community. Arrogance and disunity were distractions, and Paul extended grace to the Philippians by reminding them of what the love of G-d in Christ had accomplished.
Read MoreDuring the season of Lent, we are wandering our way to the cross and empty tomb. It is a season where we wonder what will happen next. Will disagreements keep us divided? Will we continue to legislate Law in a way contrary to Paul’s declaration that Everyone who calls on the name of” Jesus will be saved?
Read MoreWe have missed the mark, and so on Ash Wednesday, the marks on our foreheads are a reminder to us to ask for forgiveness and try again. The Good News tonight is that on the cross and in the victorious empty grave we will find on Easter morning we are made righteous before G-d.
Read MoreIt is Transfiguration Sunday, the day we recall the fullness of Jesus’ identity being revealed and confirmed, connecting Jesus with the liberators and prophets of Israel’s past. While little of what happened in a once indoor NFL stadium resembled a group of people following Jesus, today, a few days removed from General Conference, Jesus is still the transfigured Messiah, guiding his disciples down the mountain, heading towards the cross.
Read MoreJesus sought these three men out. Before he was teaching on the banks of the Sea of Galilee they were a group of business partners who had a bad night at work. Before Jesus stepped into Simon’s boat, Simon was just a guy trying to clean his fishing gear and go home. But that’s the way discipleship works. Before you or I decided to be a follower of Jesus, Jesus revealed the awesome abundance of G-d.
Read MoreThe awesome thing about the identity we receive through our baptism is that this identity is freely given to us without reservation and with the promise that the One who was chased from his hometown will be with us.
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