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…
Forcing Growth
We have probably 20 volunteer red bud trees growing in the landscaping of our back yard. If we simply let them be, they are in the wrong spots and far too crowded for sustained growth. The best choice is to pick two or three and move them to where they will have a chance to…
Confession of faith
I confess… Tonight our confirmation students were asked to state their faith. To imagine that they had been arrested for their faith and had to write their confession for their “crime”. And, it’s important for all of us as adults and teachers and mentors in the faith to do the same. As I think about…
Out of the Mouths of Children
I spend a good chunk of time every week preparing to preach the word of God through liturgy choices, attention to hymns, exegetical work, praying, listening, dreaming, and writing. And I forget sometimes that I need to hear the good news preached, too. I am, after all, just as human as the rest of…
Renegade Gospel: The Red-Letter Rebel
There was a challenge issued TWICE by Mike Slaughter in chapter one of this Renegade Gospel book we are examining during this Lenten season: to read through one of the gospels and pay specific attention to the red letters… to the words of Jesus… spoken there. I pulled out my bible and started with Luke.…
Remembering Our Place #growrule
This Lent, I have been using a tool called “Growing a Rule of Life.” Each day there is a video and a prompt question to engage with. And of course, I’m behind already. Friday’s video reminded me that we need structure, we need planning, we need the framework in place before we start these…
Returning from Thin Places
There are places in this world that are “thin.” It is a label given to places, in the Celtic understanding, where the barrier between the human and the divine, heaven and earth, is nearly imperceptible. A place where we experience the divine more readily. In biblical history, we see a number of these “thin places”…