the Essays & Reflections
Category: Embodied Christianity
Living & Application
Again and again, Jesus invited people to follow him. To follow him in the way he lived his life. It was Jesus who called you and calls to us. Follow me. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Pick up your cross. It is clear that to call oneself Christian has implications for how we live. To be intentional and purposeful in how we apply the life, teachings, and faith of Jesus from Nazareth in our lives today.
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The Church after Consumerism
The realities of consumerism are relatively new to the Church. What kind of future is there for the Church in light of its implications and culture? Where may we find hope in the midst of and after consumerism? I believe we have hope as we elevate the fact that we exist, have our being, and…
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A Prayer for the Recently Deceased
A prayer for when a sibling in Christ has passed on. Words that might help us be present in this time of grief and loss. I wrote these words after my father-in-law passed during the pandemic in fall 2021.
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UnChristian: Lets Stop Calling Others This
What if instead of calling others ‘UnChristian’ we said, ‘the Jesus I follow looks/acts different.’ There are three reasons I suggest we stop casting others out of Christianity.
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Paris Liberated 78 Years Ago Today
78 years ago today, Paris was liberated from the Nazi fascists who had spent four years occupying, murdering, and oppressing the people of this city. Political ideologies that wield violence as power must be resisted and condemned.
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Rediscovering the Kingdom of God
When we proclaim the Kingdom of God we tell a bigger story than exchanging sin for salvation. We disclose the reality of an eternal kingdom with Christ as King, that is near and coming. It is the good news.
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There’s No Fight between Science and the Church
There is not a fight between science and the Church/Theology. Within the decade humanity will likely know life has existed off planet (Mars). The church needs to prepare for this reality. We need to teach that the creation myths in Genesis are not literal, but theological stories.Stories that tell us about relationships with one another/creation,
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The Church against Fascism
The future of the Church in the west is at stake. Today we know the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This is in large part because he denounced the fascists of his day while most of the church was silent and complict. I pray that this time there would be too many names to remember as
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Practices over Ideas and starting Urban Monasticism
This is the transcript of a talk given earlier in the summer of 2020. I was one of a dozen or so presenters looking at how the church might need to adapt for the future. There is the global pandemic, climate change/catastrophe, beginning of the end of the American Empire, the rapid secularization of the
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The river of Justice is reaching us all
With all happening in Minneapolis (Justice for George Floyd) and around the country it should be clear. You are either anti-racist, or racist. The years of me believing that racial justice wasn’t my fight are one of the reasons that George Floyd was murdered. I believed passive support of others was enough to bring change,
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From Lament to Celebration, can we as the church learn to do both well
Today I lead a group of ministry peers in a conversation about what might come out of this current pandemic for the church. Through shortened breaths (due to still being in recovery from covid-19) I read the following notes. Normally I don’t prepare notes like this, but my mind has been so scattered I felt