Tag: power & authority

  • 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…

  • All the authority issues: reflections on a year of Patheos blogs

    Hi friends, I recently concluded an almost-year’s worth of weekly-ish blogging with Patheos. I wanted to try to sum up the journey here—including lots of links, in case there are posts you haven’t seen yet but want to check out. Lots and lots of links. You’ve been warned.  After kicking off the blog with some…

  • If love conflicts with our politics, let’s change our politics

    Hi friends, I don’t often seek out Christianity Today articles, but sometimes people bring them to my attention. And sometimes I have some feelings and thoughts about them that feel worth sharing. For instance: this recent piece about a West Texas pastor who shelters migrants, despite holding generally Republican stances on immigration. It’s so complicated.…

  • 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…

  • Out there on the web: women in the book of Daniel, church expulsion, climate crisis & lament, and labor exploitation in church

    Hi friends, Hope the end of this week finds you ready for a restful weekend.  I’ve been reading Trica Hersey (aka the “Nap Bishop”)’s book Rest is Resistance, and it certainly has me thinking about what it looks like to steal away moments of rest, reflection, daydreaming, and napping throughout the week. Not just because…

  • Equal partnership: what’s in it for men?

    Hi friends, A few weeks ago, I facilitated a book discussion with the college alumni group I’m a part of, on a book called Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home. We talked about all sorts of things that the book covers, like the idea of cognitive labor, parenting and mothering as an equal partner,…

  • Race-based affirmative action: what’s in it for white folks?

    Hi friends, I want to say a little more about affirmative action. I feel like this is one of those things that, for some of us—that is, for those of us who don’t feel like we’re directly impacted—that is, for those of us who are white (and/or perhaps Asian American?)—it might be easy to move…

  • Shiny and Happy

    Hi friends, I’ve been continuing to watch all the recent evangelicalism exposé documentaries. It’s a lot. I’m talking The Secrets of Hillsong (some reflections here and here). I’m talking God Forbid (on the Falwells, yikes). And I’m talking Shiny Happy People (on the Duggars, Gothard, and IBLP). This week, I wanted to share a few…