As a child, I absolutely adored the “Little House” books. I fawned over the pages and the stories of Laura Ingalls and imagined her life growing up in the midwest in the late 1800’s. They were full of rich detail and you could put yourself into that little sod house or the cabin in the…
Postmodern Church and the Farmlands of Iowa… Part 3
In this installment, I want to talk about some of the “best practices” that I see coming out of emerging, missional, and postmodern churches. Some of these practices are mentioned in Diana Butler Bass’ book, Christianity for the Rest of Us, but they also come from Kester Brewin’s, Signs of Emergence. A few of the “best…
The Karma Question
On the season six finale of House, a woman is trapped in a building and Dr. House is right there beside her while they try to get her out. The situation is desperate. We learn a little bit about who she is, her husband waiting back home, her hopes and dreams. But there she is.…
God Loves Sinners
I am a person who does not get lost. Never in my life can I remember a time when I didn’t know where I was or how I was going to get where I needed to go next. I have always been a very spatial person, and so if you give me a map, I…
Sleeping Habits
It has been a LONG time since I have played the RevGals Friday Five, but here goes! …our Friday Five today will focus on sleep, or the lack there of. 1. Are you prone to sleep challenges? Insomnia, snoring, allergies? Other sleep challenges? hmm… my husband claims I snore – but I am about 10,000x…
Postmodern Church and the Farmlands of Iowa… Part 2
So, the first thing I want to tackle is some semblance of a definition. What on earth are we talking about when we say “postmodern” and “emergent.” The simple answer is that there isn’t a simple answer. In The Emerging Church, Dan Kimball describes the post modern world as: An emerging and developing worldview and culture pursuing…
Postmodern Church and the Farmlands of Iowa… Part 1
In our final year at Vanderbilt Divinity School, we work on the crowning glory of our graduate work: our seminar paper. As I sat down three years ago to write this work, I was very interested in how I might take all that I had learned and take it back home to Iowa. I knew…
A Mighty Wind
This morning it is windy. And that is an understatement. Because of the cool weather we have had our windows open and the cats love to sit on the sill, with just the screen between them and the great outdoors. It’s a good view, they can smell everything and their ability to hear the birds…