Well. Somehow I made it through one of the busiest weeks of my entire life. The irony didn’t escape me that while many friends and siblings and loved ones were on spring break, I felt like i was in the midst of finals. This past week, I had a funeral, gave the invocation at a…
Uncategorized
Easter is for the Hopeless
A rollercoaster of emotions. In the sunrise service this morning we began a little bit differently and instead of starting off with the joy of the resurrected Christ, we began with the despair felt by Mary and the disciples because their Lord and Teacher was no longer with them. You see, for the disciples, Easter…
roundtable preaching
This past semester I got to work on my senior project with Dr. John McClure, a professor of homiletics at Vanderbilt Divinity. My project has been on the intersection of so-called postmodern church practices with rural churches in Iowa and one of his suggestions, as a homiletician, was that I incorporate some kind of collaborative…
putting things off
I haven’t written in here for a while – and I have SO much to say. And only 20 minutes before I need to be at the hospital. So here is a checklist – 1) Breaking Bread, 2) Sand and Water at the beginning of Lent, 3) the roundtable pulpit group, 4) wrestling with grace…
and so it begins
Lent that is… the season of wilderness wandering entered our community with a snowstorm and forced us to cancel our Ash Wednesday services. I think we shoveled our driveway twice on Wednesday – and it would have been three times if
junk mail and websites
I don’t think I ever realized HOW MUCH junk mail a pastor gets. We get catalogs in the mail EVERY DAY! and tons of paper is wasted on advertisements. Every time I get something in the mail now, I look for a way to unsubscribe from the catalog or ad service. Today, I tried (hopefully…
lusting whores in Ezekiel…
Well. I’ve been going to a bible study that meets at the church… not necessarily a bible study really… they gather to read the bible together, out loud, and have snacks. Yesterday morning, Ezekiel 23 happened to be where we were (they are reading straight through… I think they might have started with Jeremiah)… and…
first series of sermons: thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path… following Christ in the season of Epiphany
okay… so it’s a long title for a sermon series. But I’m starting out this new pilgrimage with my congregation by inviting them on a journey – and the Light of Christ is our guide. Last week we talked about the star that led the wise men to the Christ Child. This week, we’ll talk…