Dave Buerstetta on striving to do justice and love others while walking humbly with God
"I'm praying for you." I must admit that far too often when I say those words to people experiencing pain, loss, grief, despair, they sound trite. Even though I mean it. Even though I'm actually praying for the person and the situation, I don't know how to say those words without sounding rote and insincere. …
Continue reading “We will work with each other, we will work side by side”
My wife, Joann, and I are proud members of Bread for the World. Why? Because, for example: "Is not this the fast that I choose? To loose the bonds of injustice...to break every yoke? ...It is not to share your bread with the hungry?" (Isaiah 58:6-7) The biblical call for justice compels us to raise …
Merry Christmas! The main reading for our Christmas Eve worship services was Isaiah 9:2-7: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined... For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of …
This Sunday night is the first trial run for a new alternative worship gathering at my church. I'm definitely experiencing that typical emotional cocktail of excitement (We're doing something new! An idea of mine that others have helped birth!) and nervousness (What if no one attends? What if we suck? What if we think it's …
Welcome to another edition of my version of that blog post staple, the weekly recap/links roundup/info dump. My intent is to highlight stuff I came across this week (or, you know, at least fairly recently) that I found well-written or inspiring or bizarre or...well, or perhaps stuff so good I wish I’d written it myself. …
The texts for this week (we almost always follow the lectionary) create an odd juxtaposition of themes. Matthew 22:1-14 seems, at least at first glance, to be yet another affirmation that God is capricious tyrant, a violent bastard with a terrible temper. Meanwhile, over in Philippians 4:1-9, Paul gently and beautifully reminds us to "rejoice …
That was one of my key take-aways (gotta love conference attendee parlance, right?) from the Leadership Institute at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City last week: minding the gap. In one of his plenary addresses, Church of the Resurrection Senior Pastor, Adam Hamilton, used that phrase – minding the gap – to …
“Jesus said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me… He sent me to liberate those held down by oppression.’” – Luke 4:18 Now is the time, the time is now...We need to get the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) passed through Congress and signed into law. This week, it’s back to anti-trafficking work. …
Continue reading Reach globally, gather locally, end slavery
I was interviewed recently for an article in Interpreter Magazine, a product of the United Methodist Church. It's the cover article for Sept/Oct and the online version just dropped. Woodridge UMC is one of three churches discussed in the article who are opening their doors to Muslim groups, including for them to worship. Here's a …
Earlier this week, my friend, Steve Knight, shared a link on Facebook to a blog post by Ed Cyzewski. (Good grief, that’s a tortured sentence. Such is the destructive power of social media.) Ed writes: We still haven’t sought the guidance of female leaders as if the integrity of our witness and the reflection of …
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 