April 17 is International Haiku Poetry Day. What is the history of haiku? How can Christians benefit from this simple practice? Many of us learned haiku in school as a way of creating poetry with little pressure. The pattern is simple: three lines of simple verse. Five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and five in the third line. That’s it. As an exercise in creative writing, it stretches the imagination. But have you considered how... Read more
There’s nothing wrong with bivocational ministry, but it does come with a few pitfalls. In my last article, I made the case for part-time ministry. What are they, and how can you avoid them? To be fair, bivocational ministry has its own risks. I would do you a disservice if I presented the pros of a part-time pastorate without also discussing the dangers. But, in my mind, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. My last article listed twelve pros, but... Read more
Most who feel called to ministry dream of big churches. But have you considered the benefits of bivocational ministry in a small congregation? I know, I know—the thought of bivocational ministry gives aspiring megachurch pastors more than a touch of indigestion. I feel this deeply. When I was in seminary, I had similar dreams of glory. To me, becoming full-time clergy was the only “real” way to be a pastor. So, that’s what I did—and for most of my twenty-six... Read more
The Bible offers a “top 6 list” of things MAGA Christians should embrace if they want to achieve greatness. But will they listen? MAGA Christians spend a lot of time warning us about dangerous things like empathy, immigrants, libraries, and occasionally the teachings of Jesus. In the interest of unity, I’d like to help. Here is a short list of things they currently dislike—and the inconvenient reasons their own faith says they should probably care about them. 1. Immigrants... Read more
In movies, holy water burns vampires like acid. In the real world, people scald their enemies with faith that ought to nourish, not kill. Last week, I observed that movie-holy-water requires one thing to be effective: it needs monsters. Otherwise, it remains in the font, blessing babies. But what happens if you don’t have vampires or demons close at hand? Then, you’re tempted to bring your spiritual heroics closer to home and declare fellow human beings to be the devil... Read more
March 22 is World Water Day. Let’s talk about what holy water does—and doesn’t—do. And how you can use it in your own faith. If, like me, you grew up on a steady diet of vampire movies, you already know the rule: holy water isn’t for blessing. It’s for burning. The church may have invented holy water to cleanse, but movie-holy-water corrodes like battery acid. Far from a sacrament, it’s a superweapon. Here are a few movie examples from my... Read more
Jesus & Lao Tzu: The Peaceable Kingdom Do you want to live in a peaceful nation? The Way of Love calls us to stop focusing on divisiveness and embrace our inherent oneness. Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of God. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu envisioned a kingdom that orders things without force. Lao Tzu’s picture pairs with Edward Hicks’s Peaceable Kingdom (ca. 1833), based on the prophecies of Isaiah 11 and 65. This famous work of art depicts... Read more
Your home is your castle—but is it your sanctuary? Household shrines can turn ordinary rooms into sacred space. It’s almost time for spring cleaning—why not use your home cleanout as a time to carve out a little breathing space for your spirit? Spring Cleaning Spring cleaning is about more than dusting and decluttering. Around the world, it’s a spiritual tradition. Before the celebration of Passover, many observant Jews give their homes a good cleaning. They also remove all traces... Read more
Many worship a Jesus who forgives personal sin. Others follow a Jesus who fixes systemic injustice. The Gospels reveal One who does both. A friend who was an Episcopal priest once told me his observation that mainline Protestants tend to define sin primarily as systemic injustice, while evangelicals often understand sin mainly as moral failure. These tendencies are not universal, but they are common enough to notice. Jesus did not engage in such dualistic either/or thinking but became a “friend... Read more
For many, God is an academic or theoretical pursuit. That works for theologians and seminarians—but sometimes you just need God to hold you. In this “Renaming God” series, we’ve been discussing alternative names for God—some ancient ones that have been forgotten, and others that are newly imagined. Why rename God? Because many people have baggage that makes the traditional names seem like a disconnect. Because as times change, so does our understanding of the Divine. Throughout the Bible, our heroes... Read more
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