As 2012 draws to a close, I'm taking some time to reflect on the new church ministry in the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest and the hopes for 2013 and church planting in within Mainline Protestantism as a whole. Earlier this year, I kind of fell into leading a ministry team of people interested... Continue Reading →
How A Progressive Christian Pastor Made His Peace With Guns (Kinda Sorta.)
Growing up, I was taught by my mother that guns were not good things. Having come of age in Flint. Michigan that started to see a rise in violent crime in the 1980s, that message was only drilled into me further. The urban environment that I come from taught me one thing: guns were bad,... Continue Reading →
Gabriel’s Message
One of my favorite Christmas hymns is one I didn't know until a pop star sang it in the mid-80s. Gabriel's Message is an old Basque folk carol that is found in several hymnbooks. I came to know this song when Sting sang it around 1987. Below is the video made for the song. Merry... Continue Reading →
God Doesn’t Love the One Percent.
I have a mixed relationship with Mary's Magnificat found in Luke 1. On the one hand it is a wonderful message of justice; that the lowly in life will be vindicated and remembered by God. I love singing the song A Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney. But the text also is bothersome to... Continue Reading →
Sermon: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?
I preached this tonight at our Blue Christmas Service. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?” Isaiah 49:14-16 and Matthew 2:1-23 Blue Christmas Service December 19, 2012 First Christian Church Minneapolis, MN It’s Christmastime! It’s the time of the year that we are supposed to be happy and we consider it “the most wonderful time... Continue Reading →
I’m Jack’s Banished Dog.
Recently, I wrote a post on how difficult friendships can be for me. I don't know if I explained it very well, but here's a taste: It’s not that I don’t want friends; the fact is I really desire friendships and there have been people that I really want to be good friends with. But... Continue Reading →
No One Is To Blame?
MACDUFF He has no children. All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop? MALCOLM Dispute it like a man. MACDUFF I shall do so, But I must also feel it as a man. I cannot but remember such things were... Continue Reading →
Random Musings on a Random Act
The horrific shootings in Newtown, Connecticut has left a lot of people stunned. It wasn't simply the number of people who died, 27, that has left people speechless, nor was the fact that it took place in a school. What has stunned folks is the fact that this took place in an elementary school and... Continue Reading →
Stop Making Sense (Again)
I wrote this after the shootings in Arizona in 2011. Somehow it still makes sense after the events of today. Please continue to pray for the family and friends of the victims of the shootings in Connecticut. Lord, have mercy. The fallout from the shooting of US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others on Saturday... Continue Reading →
On Getting With the Program
Since I work for the Presbyterians, I spent some time this summer watching the live feed from the 220th General Assembly in Pittsburgh. On the penultimate day of the Assembly there was discussion on allowing ministers to be able to marry same-sex couples. It was not a surprise to see conservatives quoting scripture. In fact,... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 