Those of us who follow Jesus are called to leave the saltshakers of our own making and do good works for the glory of God in the wider world.
Sermon: Out of the Saltshaker
Sermon: “The Lord Is My Shepherd….at 35,000 Feet”
Psalm 23 Fourth Sunday in Lent March 30, 2014 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN I can be a nervous flier. My fear of flying hasn’t stopped me from getting on a plane on a regular basis. I’ve flown international flights to Europe, South America and Asia. You are really dealing with your fears when you... Continue Reading →
What Does the Lord Require?
A few weeks back, I happened to be browsing the religious website Patheos and came accross a blog post by Greg Garrett called "God Commands Compassion, Not Evangelism." The title fascinated me and the excerpt was even more interesting: "Christianity is not about praying in a certain way, or believing a certain thing, or making... Continue Reading →
An Evangelical Looks at a Mainline Seminary
One of my favorite bloggers to read these days is Timothy Dalrymple. He's a social conservative and I, being a gay pastor am...not. But even though we probably see things differently, his reasoning has always been solid and reminds me that social conservatives are real people and not simply caricatures. He has an interesting column... Continue Reading →
Repost: “Progressive Christians” and Yours Truly
From June of this year. I've been noticing lately within Mainline Protestant circles, the rising use of the word "progressive" as a way to describe Christians who might have once used the term "mainline Protestant." The biggest change to note is over at the religion megasite Patheos, which changed the name of one of their... Continue Reading →
Repost: Notes from a Reluctant Liberal Christian
The following post is from January of this year. I've been wanting to write more on this topic and hope to do so in the near future. For now, there's this essay. A few years ago, a dear friend of mine described me as an evangelical turned liberal Protestant. I remember blanching at that definition. ... Continue Reading →
Life, Death, Steve Jobs and the Future of the Mainline Church
Steve Job's commencement address in 2005 at Stanford University seems to be everywhere right now. A whole host of media are sharing quotes from that speech. Most of them are sharing this portion where he talks about death. I guess I'll join the throng and post that portion here: “No one wants to die. Even... Continue Reading →
The Ten Commandments and the Mainline Church
I have to give the children's sermon this coming Sunday and in preparation I decided to read some commentary on the Hebrew Scripture lectionary text. It just so happens that we are reading the Ten Commandments, and I came upon this article by Amy Erickson of the Illif School of Theology: If I may be... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 