For much of the summer, we have been sitting with the Apostle Paul and wrestling with his letter to the Romans. But as fall approaches – and boy does it feel like fall out there! – we are turning our eyes back to Jesus for a while. In fact, for the remainder of this fall,…
Facebook parenting = 21st century coffee klatch
Whenever we went back to my grandma and grandpa’s house for holidays, the family gathered together in the living room and we told stories. Or rather, as the babe in the room I listened to stories, while my aunts and uncles and my mom told about the adventures and misadventures they found themselves in growing…
something to identify as
I heard a song on the radio this evening by Patrick Stump featuring Lupe Fiasco called, “This City.” It’s a new single, it has an okay beat and the lyrics are kind of lame. As one listener texted in, it sounds like a song that should be on high school musical. Teen pop, whatever. But…
The Long Hurt
The second most difficult thing in the world to do is to harbor anger and pain. This week, I read the story of a woman who had refused to forgive. As John van de Laar tells the story: Whenever a visitor came for a cup of tea or coffee, she would pour the drinks and…
a time and a place (#1bread1body)
I am a child of my age. I carry my cell phone with me everywhere. I check facebook at least five times a day. In between episodes of my favorite streaming television shows on netflix, I hop onto an online forum to chat about what I just saw. I blog. I tweet. I sometimes play MMORPG’s.…
Loving Your Neighbor…Now
(Community Worship in the Park) It is so beautiful out, and all of you look so wonderful gathered here in community. Although it takes some work to get this service together, this community worship in the park is one of my favorite services of the year. Just look around – these are our friends and…
Fear or Dialogue?
(This is a post I wrote last fall, but for some reason I never published… as we come closer to the tenth anniversary of September 11th, I thought I might go ahead and push the “publish” button) A sort of running theme here on the blog on the past has been the very simple idea…
best customer service ever…
For the Iowa Annual Conference this year, our conference artist created a gallery in our meeting space. It housed a collection of works from various people and each piece connected with our theme of Radical Hospitality with Justice. The room itself was a conversation space. Chairs arranged for discussion, room to move, room to reflect, post-its on…