A big week in the news (Republican presidential debate, Obama’s speech, 9/11 anniversary, etc) has me thinking about the way people who disagree speak to one another.  This is not some novel idea of mine, in fact, nearly every talk show, magazine, and blog has already discussed our nations nasty “tone of discourse.”  My addition to the fray is based around the idea of conversion.  For people of faith (any faith) conversion is often spoken of as the moment when our arguments “win”.  If my argument is the most logical and I can convince those around me I am right, they will have no choice but to convert.

This mode of thinking is arrogance on steroids and makes me feel like a jerk.   Instead, when you hope to change opinions, thinking, actions, feelings, etc you must come to the conversation open to conversion.  This obviously goes in the face of our current political world where stubbornness has become a virtue.  When we are open to conversion we are 1. practicing humility, 2. treating our neighbor as we wish to be treated, and 3. being open to positive outcomes we cannot reach on our own. [Read more →]

So much going on in life.  My calendar is constantly packed, the church calendar is even busier, and there is even more that I could be doing if I just wasn’t so tired and worn out.  But is busyness really the goal?  I sure hope not.  I think the goal is committed discipleship, yet at times that seems so easily lost.  All of our activity pushes us onward with direction-less frenzy until finally individuals and families are driven away from the church searching for sabbath.  Oh the irony.   [Read more →]

The Church in my generation is having an identity crisis.  We aren’t sure who we are yet, and our wavering identity is causing us to lose people on the fringe and frustrate our elders.  Unfortunately, clarity may not come for months, years, or even another generation!  This lack of clarity is daunting, and for many, may be overwhelming enough to throw in the towel, but I am begging you don’t stop now!  Lack of clarity can be biblical and even holy.  It gives us opportunity to rely on God, to forge our relationships, and experience the labor pains necessary for new life.  Just ask the Israelites in the dessert, Joseph and Mary on the road to Bethlehem, the disciples before Pentecost, or the early church in ancient Rome. [Read more →]

“What do you do?”

This is the defining question of our age. Yet, most of our answers are not telling the whole truth. If you answer the question by telling your job title at your place of employment what are you leaving out? And if you are a Christian what Godly vocations are you denying or at least giving less favor to? On the path toward ministry in the Christian church I am often asked to describe my vocational call, but rarely am I expected to include the Godly vocations of being a dedicated spouse, a future parent, a son, brother, friend. And I am even less expected to say I am called to taking Sabbath. These are left out in favor of my calling to lead the church as a pastor…. [Read more →]

Wondering what the title is?  It is the NFL theme song of course.  Thats right, like every other faith based organization I used last Sunday to focus on football…..I mean Jesus…..no wait, I do mean football.  Lets face it, churches LOVE the Super Bowl.  We use it to raise money, throw youth parties, and donate food.  But, is this really something the church should get behind?  In a previous post I discussed how major sports can promote sexism, but the Super Bowl allows Americans to take part in a whole new realm of grievances. [Read more →]

I have been attempting to think of possible church events that I have never seen at a church.  For example: Doubt Week.  A week where we invite people to come and express their doubts in community.  You could have speakers, small groups, etc.  As I brainstormed more I asked for some consulting from a friend who is cynical of organized religion.  I asked him what types of things a church could do that would peak his interest, and what kind of events would he attend even if they were hosted by a church.  Our conversation led to events that were less “churchy” and more community focused.  And that conversation led us to the two most interesting paragraphs of email I have had in a long time…… [Read more →]

Books of God or of Humans?

Today we are writing our final papers for a class focused on the Pastoral Epistles of the New Testament: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus.

These texts are rather controversial; their authorship is debated, they contain some pretty harsh stuff about women, and they represent a shift in the New Testament from the early Church who believed that Christ would return in their lifetime to a church who began to set up hierarchy.  This shift started the desire to figure out how to be a religion for the long run in a society which wasn’t really for them…. [Read more →]

What does a show about show choir and a motley crew of teenagers have to do with social justice? Fox’s TV show, Glee, shows us how…

The TV show Glee caught my eye (and the eyes of many) because of the colorful set, hip fun characters, musical-style format, and quick witted lines and scenes. The show is centered on an inspired and determined teacher who brings many of the high school stereotypes (jock, nerd, band geek, theater buff, outcast) together to become a glee club, performing musical numbers together in competitions with other schools. It is a funny and often heartfelt show that leaves you smiling and uplifted, singing along to the pop music they perform and quoting the funniest line from the episode… [Read more →]

For once in my life I actually got up early enough that I had time to spare this morning before church, so I decided to take in some news. For me this means checking my Blog RSS feeds, which bring me all new posts from sources like GoPowercat.com, change.org, my sisters blog, wired.com, and of course CNN. The article that caught my attention today was on CNN’s rolling news feed and is called Online Churches Draw Believers and Critics.  The article talks about a new phenomenon of webcasting worship services.  This isn’t a particularly new idea.  It has been done in some medium since worship was first put on the radio.  With the accesiblility of technology webcasting your worship in audio or video is now pretty easy to do, even for novice folk like me.  In fact my college alma mater does this very thing for their weekly chapel service.  But one church is taking there online service to a new level…. [Read more →]

In another life, I want to work for the DMV. Crazy? maybe… a calling? indeed.

Who among us hasn’t spent a stress-filled morning trying to find where to go, and what to fill out at the DMV?  It can be intimidating, overwhelming and at times, off-putting. Now, I am not dogging the DMV as a whole, the people that work at the DMV are a hard working and under appreciated bunch, and I often feel pity for the hard work and unappreciative people they have to put up with. At the same time, a recent experience of mine helped me to think about the role of hospitality in governmental offices…

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