A Better Place Than Here (TAW055)

Episode 054 – A Better Place Than Here (With Jennifer Knapp) What would you learn if you had the opportunity to go back and revisit your spiritual journey of twenty-five years ago? What if that experience happened in community, with folks who were there with you, when it happened? What would you learn? How are […]

Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (TAW054)

Episode 054 – Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (With Sarah Sanderson) Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God’s work of bringing restoration and liberation, we can’t ignore what’s happened in the past. Telling this truth is the only way […]

“Biblical Womanhood is Christian Patriarchy.” We can do better.

I’ll start with the conclusion: Followers of Jesus are called to join him in his mission. In case we get confused, he defined his mission for us in Luke’s gospel. . If our message and actions don’t bring good news to the poor, freedom to prisoners, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed, […]

Don’t Choose Shallow Formation (TAW047)

Episode 047 – Don’t Choose Shallow Formation (With Rich Vellodas) Does our faith enable us to be “a good gift” to our neighbors, even the neighbors we disagree with? Many Christians, it seems, are living in ways that contradict the core ethic of our faith loving our neighbors as ourselves. What is going on? It […]

Do we have the courage to stop racial injustice?

Sitting in my home just outside of Portland, Oregon, I am only nine miles from the small square of blocks outside the Justice Center that has seen 90 nights straight of protesting that began in response to the police killing George Floyd. I’m also about 46 miles and 176 years away from where the Oregon […]

Pentecost, Breathing & George Floyd (TAW032)

Episode 032 – Pentecost, Breathing & George Floyd This is the air I breathe! My heart broke open this week as I watched the events unfold around the murder of George Floyd, and the protests and riots that followed. At the same time, I was studying the lectionary passages for Pentecost. This is an edited […]

Pentecost, Breathing & George Floyd

Note: This is the text of my Pentecost sermon from 5/31/2020. In this particular moment in American history, it seems essential for white Christians to speak up, if only because our silence has spoken for us for too long.  I am not an expert in this topic, but I am listening and learning, and have […]

I’m sorry for the Racist past (and present) of the Church.

Most of you already know that I write in two places.  Here, I write about spiritual growth for followers of Jesus. But over at the Oregonian / OregonLive I write to a wider community, here in Portland. I’m in a series that starts with apologies, but is really about a more positive vision for the church’s […]