Audio: Problematic Parables – An analysis of bridesmaids, virgins, and lamps
A sermon my church was nice enough to let me give. Proper 27 (32) Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost Year A – November 12, 2017 Matthew 25:1-13 25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 25:2 Five of the virgins […]
Audio: It’s Easy to love the people you don’t unfollow
A sermon my church was nice enough to let me give. Proper 15 (20) | Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year C | August 14, 2016 Luke 12:49-56 12:49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what […]
On earth as it is in Heaven – We’re showing up late to our own party
I like to start off a lot of Bible stories by talking about the Simpsons. It’s a seeker-sensitive way to demonstrate a point, and I’ve done it for years. Jesus was clearly more interested in speaking with the unchurched than he was the pious and devout. So I’ve tried to follow suit…but that’s not the […]
Miracles are real, they just don’t look very miraculous
The headline of a recent Washington Post article asked “Can one pastor bridge deep divides between evangelicals and mainline Protestants?” And the line from the article that seemed to best answer the question was: “Anybody who can try to turn that cacophony [of Evangelicals and Mainlines] into a symphony should be considered a miracle worker.” […]
Being right isn’t a virtue, it’s a prerequisite
Recently, a friend of mine shared an article she “liked” on Facebook. It was a diatribe on why Christians shouldn’t be nice to, or even tolerate, people they disagree with. It was so vitriolic toward its stated enemy: “nice Christians,” that I literally felt sick to my stomach while reading (my peanut butter cup & […]
Love isn’t incompatible with the Biblical model, it IS the Biblical model
There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love […]
Why I don’t care what Jesus wrote in the sand
If I were in charge of writing the opening lines of Philippians 3 for the here and now from my own personal perspective, it would read like this: Religion has been the largest driving force in my life for more than three decades. I have been part of more Bible studies, growth groups, and outreach […]
A #betterhashtag won’t save your church
There were three things that surprised me about the Bloggers’ Breakfast at Donald Miller’s Storyline Conference: Nobody was blogging There was no breakfast I am no longer surprised to hear a Christian say we should stop playing morals-police Christianity has a long history of claiming that morals are absolute, that it decides what is and […]
Why I don’t care about your intentions
Yesterday, The Atlantic published an article about Megapastor Mark Driscoll and how his Megachurch, Mars Hill, has spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars to pad his resume to include Megauthor. (Short version: they paid a company to send people out to buy his book over and over to get it a week on […]