the Essays & Reflections
Category: Embodied 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
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A Season unlike any Other
We are in a season of life unlike any we, or our parents have lived through for a century. People we know and care about will get sick, we will get sick, and many more than we want to will not survive. With all that said I want to make a few points: It is
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To be Found
Nearly torn apart in grief and gripped by fear Mary Magdalene returned to the empty tomb alone.
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My Heart is Weak
My heart is weak. Yesterday a man overcome by evil killed scores with a truck in Nice, France. I’ve grown tired of being surprised, shocked, or acting as though the attack was unexpected. This is a sad reality of our world today. That a 24-hour news cycle hunts for tragedies affecting a group of people to grab
