In the 1960s the Catholic Church released the document “Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity”. In it the Catholic Church strove to add new life to the laity by giving firm theological affirmations about what it means to be a Christian lay man or women. In it they declared that God’s plan for the world is for human beings to “renew and perfect” the temporal order. In other words human being have been created in a special role in... Read more

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I.  The Lighting of the Candle:  Leader #2 [the designated assistant] leads the following meditation. Leader #2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  Heavenly Father, in honor of your Son, true light... Read more

A mentor of mine once said, “you’ll know you’re a leader when you turn around and there is a group of people following you.” That very practical definition has stuck with me it get around who is “in leadership” and who is not and cuts to the core of what an actually is. A leader is anyone that leads people from one place to another. They might lead somewhere good, they might lead somewhere bad. A leader might do a... Read more

Worship in Greek can mean to kiss toward If I asked 15 people to give me a definition of worship I would probably get 15 responses. It’s hard to define. It’s something that people do, and angels do. It’s something that creation calls forth and the saints around the throne join in with. People have worshiped with the blood of goats, with golden bowls, with candlesticks, and with incense. People worship with pledges of their lives, with ancient liturgies, and... Read more

There is a great deal of freedom within the Covenant Affirmations (my denomination’s statement of faith). Each one is so broad pastors and churches with a wide variety of perspectives on each issue can all agree to the affirmations themselves. I think the greatest concern with being a pastor in light of the affirmations is learning how the culture of your own church interacts with each of the affirmations. That being said I personally do have a theology of ministry... Read more

I recently gave a talk for the Word of God Community’s Fall retreat. Here is a recording of the morning session. Read more

Here is a video I have always loved Read more

Fellow theology nerd and UberBlogger David Withun has created a list of 15 books that he claims that is you read them all (and process all the ideas) you will no longer be able to remain an Atheist. I have read 1, 3, 6, 7, 13, and 15 ALL of which are fantastic… I can’t say how great (or not so great) any of the others are, but I thought this was an interesting list. What do you all think about this... Read more

The Jesus prayer is the simple prayer, “Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ, Υιέ του Θεού, ελέησόν με, translated: “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me.”[1] It is one of the central prayers of the Eastern Christian traditions. It forms the primary practice encouraged in The Philokalia, a monumental and massively popular book in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.[2] Many have wondered why such a simple prayer has become such a central part of the Orthodox spirituality. The power of the Jesus Prayer lies in the truth that it... Read more