-
Who’s turning over some tables already? A sermon on John 2:13-22 (part 2)
Hi friends, Last week I shared the first half of a sermon on John 2:13-22, imagining what it might have been like to be among the crowd of folks coming to the temple to worship, when all of a sudden, Jesus starts turning over tables. Here’s part 2! ____ I wonder what kinds of perspectives…
-
What’s this dude doing? A sermon on John 2:13-22 and Jesus turning over the tables (part 1)
Hi friends, I recently had the chance to preach a guest sermon on John 2:13-22, the passage where Jesus flips over some flippin’ tables. Here’s the story, as the NRSV translation tells it: 13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling…
-
Where We Meet (A Lenten Devotional)
Hi friends, Who knew that The Upper Room had a progressive side? Maybe you did; I sure didn’t. So I was delighted when one of their folks reached out and asked if I’d like to take a look at their new Lenten devotional book: Where We Meet: A Lenten Study of Systems, Stories, and Hope.…
-
New year, new Substack
Hi friends, Here we are, with January almost gone, and I’m not sure I’ve quite wrapped my mind around 2024 yet. But I wanted to share with you something I’m starting in this new(ish) year: a Substack! I feel like Substack is the kind of thing that’s old news to a very particular kind of…
-
The directions God is always moving (still more of a sermon on Acts 10:1-23)
Hi friends, For a couple weeks now, with the exception of a book launch announcement (woohoo!), I’ve been sharing parts of a sermon I got to preach recently on Acts 10:1-23. The first part is here, and it’s about being open to growth and learning, even after we’ve been on a journey for a while…
-
What are you currently learning? (Part of) a sermon on Acts 10:1-23
Hi friends, I recently got to preach at my church on Acts 10:1-23. Peter and Cornelius, what a story. I’d encourage you to take a look at the passage here. The church service is also recorded here (and the sermon starts here around 56:53). The way I see it, there are three main thoughts that…
-
What exactly broke the world? Reflections on Fortune by Lisa Sharon Harper
Hi friends, Something I love about Lisa Sharon Harper’s recent-ish book Fortune is that it raises—and then unpacks—this question: What exactly broke our world? I think this is a crucial question. But it’s not always one that we talk about—at least not with nearly enough specificity. In my experience in Christian circles, in particular, people…
-
ISO worship music that doesn’t make me cranky
Hi friends, I have a confession: Christian worship music often makes me cranky. I don’t know if this is actually a confession. As in, I don’t know that I’m really ashamed of it or feel like it’s a bad thing. After all, there are plenty of good reasons to feel cranky about Christian music. For…
-
Calling all with a “Grand Mother spirit”
Hi friends, This week I want to offer you two poems. (Well, one’s definitely a poem; the other is debatable, but it’s not not a poem. So I’ll just be calling them “two poems” for short.) We talked about both of them in the “God, Gender, Power” class I’ve been facilitating at my church for…
-
Super chill book review part 2: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
Hi friends, I’m back with a few more thoughts and quotes from The Nap Bishop Tricia Hersey’s book Rest is Resistance. (Check out part 1 if you missed it.) I continue to reflect on all these things. If you’re thinking about them too, let’s connect—drop a comment or email if you like. Starting where we…