For me, striving to live the life of faith always comes down to “love God and love your neighbor.” That’s why I always say it in any parting blessing I offer. It is the essence of following God in the Way of Jesus (as I understand it based on scripture, tradition, reason, and experience). While …
Category: Christianity
Victory! What’s next?
Thursday was a really good day. After months and even years of delay, the U.S. House of Representatives FINALLY passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) - and with it the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA)! The General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church reminded us what The United Methodist …
Finding home, living forever
Do you want to your faith to matter? Matter both to you and to the world? Do you want your life to be full, meaningful, deep, resonant, beautiful, everlasting? I asked this in my Jan. 27 sermon. I said that to answer those questions in the affirmative means making Jesus’ way our home. What is …
Standing Rock Reservation visited Woodridge, IL
Last summer, Woodridge UMC youth and leaders (including me) traveled to McLaughlin, South Dakota, in the middle of the Standing Rock Reservation. That was usual, commonplace, expected. We take a trip like that every year. What none of us predicted was how significantly we would be impacted by that trip. The second night we began …
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Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence
As I wrote on Thursday afternoon, word broke of yet another shooting at a school. This time a 14-year-old was shot at a middle school in Atlanta, Georgia. According to police, the suspect is in custody and the wounded student is “alert.” Both suspect and victim are students at the middle school. This shooting occurred: …
Happy Christmas 2012
Merry Christmas! Tradition can be a good thing. I'm making it a tradition to post this Isaiah passage (which is a reading for Christmas Eve worship every year), and to post the world's best - and most challenging - Christmas song. I'm also making it a tradition to change the second song every year. You're …
Celebrating Sabbath
Today is the final day of Advent, the time of waiting for the birth of Jesus. For Christians, Jesus is the Christ, aka the Messiah, aka the Anointed One, aka the Liberating King. What sort of king will he be? The words of Psalm 72, though ancient and not written about Jesus, give us insight …
I do love Bread
I know there much more important issues to cover: protecting SNAP and other programs vital to caring for poor and hungry people in any fiscal cliff deal; raising our voices to destigmatize mental health care; drowning out the NRA's insanity with petitions, letters, posts, conversations, and every other way we can; continuing to care for …
Celebrating Sabbath
But as Jesus was coming out of the waters, He looked up and saw the sky split open. The Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove, and a voice echoed in the heavens. Voice: You are My Son, My beloved One, and I am very pleased with You. ...After John was arrested by …
Giving ’til it feels good
As the end of the year approaches, my congregation is, like many organizations, in the midst of our stewardship campaign. That campaign will determine the level of financial support for our ministries in 2013. There is much biblical support for giving to such a campaign. If you've been around most any church for most any …
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 