I don’t think her image is everywhere because she is a reminder to be obedient, and I don’t think it has to do with social revolution. Images of Mary remind us of God’s favor. Mary is what it looks...
Having said that, if you want a community like the one you’ve just read about, I bet you are not the only one in your town who feels this way. So do what we did: Gather a small number of people once a...
God’s grace is not defined as God being forgiving to us even though we sin. Grace is when God is a source of wholeness, which makes up for my failings. My failings hurt me and others and even the plan...
God forcing God’s people to see themselves as God sees them, to do stuff they know they are incapable of doing, so that God might make use of them, and make them to be both humble recipients and gener...
Getting closer to God might mean getting told to love someone I don’t even like, or to give away even more of my money. It might mean letting some idea or dream that is dear to me get ripped away.
Church is messed up. I know that. People, including me, have been hurt by it. But as my United Church of Christ pastor friend Heather says, Church isn’t perfect. It’s practice. Among God’s people, th...
Christians should help one another to silence the voice that accuses. To celebrate a repentance—a snapping out of it, a thinking of new thoughts—which leads to possibilities we never considered. To lo...
But as much as being the person who is the best Christian, who follows Jesus the most closely can feel a little seductive, it’s simply never been who I am or who my parishioners need me to be. I’m not...
Augustine's shame reportedly took root when, as an adolescent, he got an erection while at a Roman bath. Embarrassing, yes. But Augustine was so consumed with shame of not being able to control his er...
And then he went from Saul to Paul, from being the best at being a Jew to being the best at being a Christian. Only, at some point he realized that no one could really pull that off. That’s when Paul...
And the strangeness of the good news is that, like those in Matthew 25 who sat before the throne and said Huh? When did we ever feed you, Lord?, we never know when we experience Jesus in all of this....
And I get it. I can be cynical myself. Every time I see some smiley TV preacher talk about God’s plan for me or hear Sarah Palin say something irretrievably mean and stupid about poor people, or every...
What happens at the cross is a blessed exchange. God gathers up all our sin, all our broken-ass junk, into God’s own self and transforms all that death into life. Jesus takes our crap and exchanges it...
We actually have the authority to remind each other of the gospel and defy the darkness of living in a broken world by pointing to the light of Christ. We all need to have our bruised, papery hands...
There are times when the truth won’t let us go. Sure, I can avoid other people’s scrutiny by telling my bullshit side of the story over and over to anyone who will listen. But I know the truth. And so...
The holy things we need for healing and sustenance are almost always the same as the ordinary things right in front of us.
Sometimes the origin of the harm can be the most powerful source of its healing.
Looked at you, gave you bread, and said, Child of God, the body of Christ, broken for you. Child of God. Child of God. We’re all children of God. And we’ve been given the authority, even the duty...
Without higher-quality material to work with, God resorts to working through us for others and upon us through others. Those are some weirdly restorative, disconcerting shenanigans to be caught up in:...
We met the next day for coffee and when I asked her what was up she said, I think I'm having a crisis of faith. To which I thought, Yeah, she continued, I-I think I believe in Jesus.