I think in many ways it is a cruel irony that as we begin our Lenten series on heroes that our first pop culture example is the Dark Knight, Batman. As a young boy, Bruce Wayne was a victim of gun violence. In a dark alley, his parents were gunned down by a thief in…
Lent
Ashes and Prayers
A colleague, Elizabeth Dilley, shared the story of imposing ashes on the foreheads of children. As she made the sign of the cross on one little boy’s forehead, “From dust you came and to dust you shall return,” his mom bent over and whispered in his ear, “But not for a really long time, okay…
Love Is All You Need
As Coptic Christians gathered in Egypt this morning to celebrate Palm Sunday, bombs rocked their sanctuaries. Thirty-six people were killed in the blasts. This week has seen horrific chemical attacks upon the Syrian people, but what is more horrific is that these kinds of atrocities are happening all the time, but only occasionally make it…
Discerning What Matters Most
This faith community began in the 1920s , as the neighborhood of Beaverdale was starting to rapidly grow. Reverend Orf, the pastor of Crocker Hill UMC, recognized the growing need for a church presence in this area and so area churches banded together for a committee, remodeled an old farmhouse, and on Easter Day, 1925…
Lessons for the Journey
Last winter, my immediate family planned a trip to Hawaii to escape the cold and the snow. We often like to travel all together, but because of my weekend work responsibilities, the rest of the family took off earlier, while Brandon and I stayed here in Iowa to get through church on Sunday morning and…
The Heart of the Matter
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had this strange sensation in my neck. To me, it feels like my pulse is a bit off of rhythm, like occasionally it skips a few beats, or does a few too many in a row. It isn’t a constant thing, and it was pretty random until Thursday. …
See(k)ing Jesus
I’m sometimes asked what the difference is between Christians who are out there serving people in the world and regular, ordinary people, who are out there serving. So many of our businesses here in Des Moines are great proponents of volunteerism. Every time we go to a Meals from the Heartland event, or collect stuff…
Prodigal Rabbi
A couple of weeks ago, Trevor and I were at a workshop about how we change our thinking in the church from membership to discipleship. We talk a lot about membership. We are preparing our confirmation students to become members. We are about to have a new member class. And it’s almost like once you…