The words were just a passing line, an impromptu cue from my yoga teacher, but they clanged and reverberated in my mind. I shifted into autopilot, moving through the forms. For the rest of the hour, as my body moved, my mind couldn’t stop turning these words over and over. “Do not lust for results.”
For when God seems absent (which feels like most of the time).
There’s a problem many modern Christians have when they read scripture. Every part of the Bible was written in a culture and time when everyone knew that everything happened because God willed it thus. Good things were God’s blessing. Bad things were God’s punishment. When everything from the weather to invasion is seen as the […]
Six Weeks to Grow? Yes, Please! (TAW061)
Episode 061 – Six Weeks to Grow? Yes, Please! Journaling for Spiritual Growth, my book that teaches you a sustainable practice for spiritual and emotional growth, comes out this week. This is the 2nd edition, published with Whitaker House. Let’s browse through the book together!
Maybe you need to steward your attention?
This summer, my family took a week-long vacation to Central Oregon. One kid is in college. The other will graduate from high school next year. We are acutely feeling the transition that comes as our children become adults. This may be our last family vacation like this. So, we wanted to cram in as much […]
Navigating Toward LGBTQ Affirmation (or How I became an Affirming Pastor) (TAW060)
Episode 060 – Navigating Toward LGBTQ Affirmation (or How I became an Affirming Pastor) My journey from the Traditionalist view to becoming a fully Affirming pastor, with a perspective on a Gospel path to full Inclusion. This is a recorded version of the same presentation I gave at the Open Table Conference School of Theology […]
Is Shame Keeping us from Following Jesus?
Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in the Upper Room is a scene familiar to most of us. He stands up from the dinner table. He removes his outer robe and wraps himself in a towel, the garb of a house slave. He picks up a pitcher of water and moves toward his friends to do […]
How the Beatitudes Could Save the World and Us. (TAW059)
Episode 059 – How the Beatitudes Could Save the World and Us. (With Dr. Bradley Jersak) An offhand comment by Dr. Jersak prompted this conversation. “We’re pushing back against the construction of a Christianity that’s the opposite of the Beatitudes. For those who don’t want to be susceptible to the lure of power-over Christianity, I […]
What do you mean, “God’s ways are higher?”
Bad things happen. When they do, not only is it painful, often it’s also confusing. Questions nag. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? The questions become more pointed for those who believe God intervenes on behalf of good people. In fact, the more a person believes that God controls every single aspect of existence, […]
Following Jesus in the Face of Political Panic, Christian Supremacy, and Creeping Fascism. (TAW058)
Episode 058 – Following Jesus in the Face of Political Panic, Christian Supremacy, and Creeping Fascism. (With Susan Carson, Bradley Jersak, and Brian Zahnd.) We stand in a dire historical moment, and one of the questions that is swirling for many of us is about what it means to be a Christian right now. There […]
Lent is Exactly What We Need.
Not many years ago, I observed Lent for the first time. I grew up Christian, but the church I was part of didn’t pay attention to the ancient liturgical calendar. Frankly, things like that were too “traditions of man” for us, and if I’m being honest, too Catholic. In our sectarian pride, we didn’t think […]
Responding When The Zone is Flooded
An infamous political strategist, speaking of the plans of the current U.S. regime, said that the way they would overcome the resistance of their opposition and the limits of Constitutional boundaries was to “flood the zone”—essentially to overwhelm people with uncertainty, fear, and indecision. With new Executive Orders being issued almost daily, and the ensuing […]
Empathy Isn’t a Sin; It’s Holy Dynamite (TAW057)
Episode 057 – Empathy Isn’t a Sin; It’s Holy Dynamite (With Felicia Murrell) Once again, influential Christian leaders are declaring empathy a sin. One influential Reformed theologian calls empathy “Counterfeit compassion” and names it “the greatest rhetorical tool of manipulation in the 21st century.” For people whose central ethic is to love the neighbor as […]