March 5 Lent 2A John 3 1 17
Nicodemus is no villain. Jesus’ learned conversation with this religious leader showed his early followers that he could hold his own with the best thinkers of his community on the topic of life after death, a pressing issue in a time of Jewish martyrdom.
Is relating to God a fundamental need
Biblical theologian Christa McKirland argues that it is.
February 26 Lent 1A Matthew 4 1 11
Many professions require testing—including Son of God.
February 22 nbsp Ash Wednesday Matthew 6 1 6 16 21
Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return. But my sermons!
A prison cell transfigured
While teaching in a prison, I got to know a gardener.
The transfiguration of Larissa
This dad, who came to Wee Worship with three young sons, was one of the most miserable people I’ve encountered at church. Wee Worship is a service that embraces the needs and gifts of very young children. In addition to looking glum and avoiding eye contact, the dad appeared to be overwhelmed and stressed to the max by the three boys. Conversation was forced and difficult.
February 19 nbsp Transfiguration A Matthew 17 1 9
When our beloved buildings are gone, what will endure is relationship.
The skin of Christ
Iam more than a little obsessed with bodies and their limits and possibilities. Maybe it’s because my own body gives me so much trouble. (I have complex Crohn’s disease and live with the aftereffects of extensive bowel surgery.) Maybe it’s because I think Ludwig Wittgenstein was onto something when he said, “The human body is the best picture of the human soul.”
February 12 Ep6A 1 Corinthians 3 1 9
Iwas born a Baptist. I mean, you can’t really be born a Baptist, but I was born to Baptist parents. I grew up in a charismatic evangelical church, became a Lutheran as a young adult, worked among Methodists for a while, and now worship with the Episcopalians. I can report at least one thing all these American Protestants seem to have in common: we are rather quick to point out divides within our own specific traditions, to distance ourselves from those with whom we share a name but often not much more.
A mosaic of story
Systematic: an organized set of doctrines, ideas, or principles usually intended to explain the arrangement or working of a systemic whole.
SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR I welcome students into a classroom where they are introduced to theology. They are supposed to learn the history of Christian doctrines, understand their interrelationships, and begin to recognize the theologies that shape them even as they encounter the theologies of others.