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Is the Church Too Much Like a Crack House?
If you’re at all familiar with Peter Rollins’ work, you know that he is one of the church’s more provocative writers and thinkers. Author of How (Not) to Speak of God and Insurrection: To Believe Is...
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Moneyball and the Future of the Church, Part 1
Part 1. Think Differently Moneyball, in case you haven’t seen it, is about baseball. But it’s also not about baseball. It’s about culture change. About how hard it is to change a culture, and about how...
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Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they...
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What Good Websites and Church Have in Common
A week ago I had the opportunity to gather with a group of folks who are working to provide resources to preachers. These are the people who put together websites, conferences, study materials, and...
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Luke 24:28-32
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now...
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Luke 24:32
They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us? I love this part of the story and this exclamation in...
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Water Lilies
There is something so irresistibly sad, or melancholy, or nostalgic, about Sara Teasdale’s poem “Water Lilies” that I find absolutely haunting. Actually, none of those words – sad, melancholy,...
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The Good Kind of Crazy
I saw a friend recently to catch up…on family, work, mutual friends, and the like. When we’re together, we also often brainstorm, especially about the kind of churches we’d like to be a part of...
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The Land of Beginning Again
Read Louisa Fletcher’s wonderful poem “The Land of Beginning Again” and then ask yourself if this is heaven. Heaven not as some distant and cloud-filled paradise but rather that place where all hurts...
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The Church Has Left the Building!
I love the picture Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church (St. Louis Park, MN) has come up with under the leadership of their new pastor, Amy Orstad, to describe its life and mission. I love the picture...
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Can We Talk About Money at Church?
Over the next few weeks, folks who attend churches following the Revised Common Lectionary (a pattern of readings following the church year) will be treated to a number of parables in Luke’s Gospel...
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Good Reasons Not to Go To Church
A few years ago a friend sent me a link to this video, and I’ve continued enjoying watching it from time to time. I thought of it again this week as I know how many of our congregations get...
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Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the...
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Why Do You Go to Church?
I’ve asked this question at least once in a sermon in every church I’ve served. Why do we go to Church? I think it’s an incredibly important question right now because there are, quite frankly, so many...
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Brene Brown on Church as Midwife.
Given that we are closing in on the climax and conclusion of Lent and, additionally, that in this morning’s devotion we looked at Jesus’ cry of dereliction, I found this meditation on the relationship...
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What The Family Feud Tells Us About Worship
This video went viral because it’s considered one of the great “fails” of Family Feud history. Flustered Anna Sass needs only 18 points for her family to win $20,000. That’s eighteen points from five...
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Church and The World Cup: Competition
The Church Lives and Does Ministry in a Competitive Environment Even as I watch the World Cup with 25 million other U.S. soccer enthusiasts, taking delight in what many are describing as one of the...
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Church and World Cup 2: Stories
It’s All About the Story You Tell Wayne Rooney is a striker (forward, goal-scorer) on England’s national team. When he’s not playing for Queen and country, he plays for Manchester United. In that...
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Matthew 18:10-14
“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred...
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What Do We Talk About At Church?
Yesterday I posted a video about the devastating effect media messages about beauty can have on all of us, but particularly our youth. Part of the challenge, as I suggested yesterday, is that our kids...
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