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Creationism Isn’t Christian
No, I didn’t watch Bill Nye debate Ken Ham. I’m not interested. Besides, it wasn’t for me. It was for two kinds of people: crazy confused people and people who think they have to listen to crazy...
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From Ferguson to the Washington Football Team
The one thing that can describe everything in my Facebook feed today is this: all of our news right now involves victims of racism. We can call it something else, because we white folks want to feel...
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When the Leader Is Not the Problem
We are eager in the U.S. to blame our leaders and hold them responsible for our dysfunction. I am now realizing that this often should not be the case. Or, to be honest, it should rarely be the case....
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Why Style is Not the Problem with Church
One of the easiest fights in church is over worship music. Everyone has an opinion and feels comfortable sharing it. Another is liturgical style: how we worship and the tools we use in our worship....
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Breaking the rules with Jesus
We are so much like the Pharisees. We really are. We focus on the rules, not their purpose or how they encourage us to build strong relationships with GOD, one another, and the wider community. That is...
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The Foundation of Faith
Photo Credit: mark sebastian via Compfight cc a Sermon for Epiphany 2A Text: John 1:29-42 The Foundation How strange this sight must have been for John the Baptizer. So many baptisms and among them is...
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Creationism Isn’t Christian
No, I didn’t watch Bill Nye debate Ken Ham. I’m not interested. Besides, it wasn’t for me. It was for two kinds of people: crazy confused people and people who think they have to listen to crazy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From Ferguson to the Washington Football Team
The one thing that can describe everything in my Facebook feed today is this: all of our news right now involves victims of racism. We can call it something else, because we white folks want to feel...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When the Leader Is Not the Problem
We are eager in the U.S. to blame our leaders and hold them responsible for our dysfunction. I am now realizing that this often should not be the case. Or, to be honest, it should rarely be the case....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Style is Not the Problem with Church
One of the easiest fights in church is over worship music. Everyone has an opinion and feels comfortable sharing it. Another is liturgical style: how we worship and the tools we use in our worship....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Breaking the rules with Jesus
We are so much like the Pharisees. We really are. We focus on the rules, not their purpose or how they encourage us to build strong relationships with GOD, one another, and the wider community. That is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is a Christian?
What is a Christian? The short answer is that there isn’t one definition. Never has been. From the very beginning, Christians are a loose collection of people with overlapping theistic belief. Today,...
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We all crave understanding and purpose.
The mustard seed teaching isn’t a how-to. It’s a here’s-what-we’re-up-to. To understand the difference, we need to take a step back. Photo by PhotoMIX Company from Pexels Proper 6B | Mark 4:26-34...
View ArticleCommand
A life less optional In last week’s gospel, Jesus refers to God’s command. It is a word that strikes my ear with great difficulty. I am thoroughly an American after all, and the idea of freedom is...
View ArticleChange: what does it take to like it?
I write frequently about change. Primarily that we like to say we hate change, but that we often actually like it. That it is necessary and natural. We’re never not changing. In most contexts, change...
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This is bigger than tradition
Photo by NEOM on Unsplash I love to focus on the context of every gospel passage. I’m a broken record about this one. Mostly because I think it is deeply important. And because I never hear other...
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On John and his specialness
Photo by Esteban López on Unsplash St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, is more of a folk hero than historical figure. Now, we like to say that tradition holds that John was a disciple and apostle of...
View ArticleBetween Proper 7 + 8 (Year B)
A look at the gaps in the lectionary. This week: the gap between Proper 7B + 8BThe text: Mark 5:1-20 This week we skip over an important story. What happens on the other side. After the storm that...
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Abuse of Tradition
This Week: Proper 17BGospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 This week’s gospel plays with a natural tension between body and spirit, sin and grace, even certainty and hope. And in that way, it might read as...
View ArticleLiberated to Love
Offering grace to the worldProper 17B | Mark 7:1-23 drewdowns · Liberated to Love (Proper 17B) The last time we were in the gospel of Mark, it was mid-July. I had to look it up! That feels like...
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