Yesterday, we had one of our world famous (in our minds) young adult clergy lunches. In our area of the conference we have been slightly disjointed in getting something regularly going, but we definately recognize the importance of clergy fellowship, accountability, and networking. It says a lot that we all looked at our watches and…
What if we put the church last?
Last summer, when we went on vacation with my husband’s side of the family we all were packed into two different vehicles on the way home. My neice and nephew were fighting about who got to ride in our car, and so to make it the most fair, we divided them up and they got…
television favorites
I just got to watch the first episode of a new season of Bones. And it just makes me happy! There is something about this unlikely match between Bones and Booth, the scientist/rationalist and the person of faith/instinct that really resonates with the way I view myself and my husband. Only we are opposite the…
Prayers for Glenn Beck
An email came across my desk today from Sojourners, encouraging us to email Glenn Beck and to support him with prayers: Glenn Beck has received a lot of attention for his inflammatory rhetoric lately. Recently, he shared a personal story about his daughter who has cerebral palsy, which gets to the heart of his fears…
Reading the Church into the individual
Lately I have begun approaching scripture with a whole new set of eyes. As I think about what it means to be the pastor of a congregation… even more than that, what it means to speak the Word to the congregation… I’ve started thinking about “we” instead of “me.” In my preaching, I have felt…
the redemption of creation
Over the next few weeks (months probably) I want to go back through my notes and blog a bit about some of the amazing things I have brought back from the Moltmann conference. The first one that has been really chewing in my soul is the idea that creation needs redemption. I guess this has…
*cough, cough*
So, I have a cold. Which means quite a few different things: 1) the seasons are changing in Iowa. It has been cold enough at night that some maples are already brilliant red. It is going to be a gorgeous fall. 2) it has been a wet end of summer. some corn is blighted. lots…
Wisdom of the Cross
Why do you follow Jesus? And how far are you willing to go? This past week, I got to spend some time with one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century – Jurgen Moltmann. At the age of 84, he traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to come and have a conversation with the 100…