Cultivating Contentment: Enough Is as Good as a Feast

Last updated on: February 7, 2012 at 5:22 pm By Carl Gregg

(Adam Hamilton, Enough, Revised and Updated: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity, Abingdon Press, 2009/2012, 165 pages.) “Enough is as good as a feast,” according to proverbial wisdom. Indeed a feast (or an all-you-can-eat buffet) can leave us stuffed, bloated, and miserable. And in this book Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the well-known and fast-growing United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, invites us to make analogous insights into how we approach money. In our finances, might “enough”... Read more

A Progressive Christian Explores Healing Prayer: A Spiritual Practice for Preaching Mark 1:40-45 (Lectionary Commentary for February 12)

Last updated on: January 23, 2012 at 11:18 pm By Carl Gregg

Although I do not know anyone personally with leprosy, much less anyone who has been healed of the disease, I will nevertheless seek to explore some of what it may mean for twenty-first century, progressive Christians that both Jesus and his early followers regularly practiced various forms of healing prayer. There are a number of entry points into this scripture that we could consider. Some of the more comfortable methods of interpretation might be to turn the focus away from... Read more

What To Do If You Need a Retreat, But Can’t Leave Home

Last updated on: January 24, 2012 at 8:10 am By Carl Gregg

(Paula Huston, Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit, Ave Maria Press, 2011, 170 pages.) I have had the opportunity to go on a few five-day contemplative retreats in recent years: to the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky (where Thomas Merton was cloistered), the hard-to-reach Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico, and the saguaro-cacti-surrounded Desert House of Prayer in Arizona. Unfortunately, the last of these retreats was more than five years ago. In recent years my continuing... Read more

Is Baptism Overrated?

Last updated on: January 24, 2012 at 9:08 am By Carl Gregg

Preview: Baptism is not overrated when it is viewed as a powerful sacrament and a transformative means of experiencing grace. And I recognize that many of my Baptist and Anabaptist forebears were persecuted, suffered, or died for the right to baptize adult believers as they saw fit according to their local congregation.Nevertheless, baptism is overrated anytime it is used as a barrier to Communion or even as a barrier to church membership. Open Communion to all without exception is both... Read more

The Pragmatism of the Didache: At Least Do What You Can

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 10:50 am By Carl Gregg

3:1 My child, flee evil of all kinds, and everything like it. 2 Don’t be prone to anger, for anger leads to murder. Don’t be jealous or quarrelsome or hot-tempered, for all these things lead to murder. 3 My child, don’t be lustful, for lust leads to illicit sex. Don’t be a filthy talker or allow your eyes a free reign, for these lead to adultery…. 5 My child, don’t be a liar, since a lie leads to theft. Don’t... Read more

Should MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” Be Added to the New Testament?

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 9:38 pm By Carl Gregg

Bruce Metzger, in his seminal work The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance, writes that, Shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, a group of ministers seriously proposed that King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” be added to the New Testament. All will appreciate that this letter, written in April 1964 after he had been jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, for participating in a civil-rights protest, conveys a strong prophetic witness, and interprets God’s... Read more

What Is the Gospel According to You? Three Meanings of “Good News” in Mark 1 (A Progressive Christian Lectionary Commentary for January 22)

Last updated on: January 16, 2012 at 9:27 pm By Carl Gregg

Note: If you want to skip to the section specifically on Mark 1:14-20, scroll down to parts two and three, but the introduction and part one help set-up these later sections. Introduction We’re familiar with the Gospel According Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are each quite distinct. Many of us are even familiar with the Gospel According to Thomas, Mary, and Q. But what is the Gospel According to You from the vantage point of twenty-first knowledge? What is... Read more

Working from January Cold to Summer Beachbody

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 9:37 pm By Carl Gregg

Last summer I successfully completed my first 2-month Sprint Triathlon training: Swim 750m/.47 mi, Bike 20 km/12.4 mi, Run 5 km/3.1 mi. I used the free training program available here. In the fall, I started a 4-month Olympic Triathlon training (1.5 km/0.93 mi Swim, 40 km/24.8 mi Bike, 10 km/6.2 mi Run), but I lost my momentum as the days shortened and the weather grew colder. However, here in January — on the other side of solstice — as the days slowly lengthen, I can... Read more

Contemplative Listening: A Simple, How-to Guide

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 9:37 pm By Carl Gregg

An alternate title for this post could be ” What To Do If Someone Asks for Counseling and It’s Been a Long Time Since Your Last Pastoral Care Class: Or, How To Help If You’ve Never Had a Counseling Class.” Hint: the contemplative listening how-to guide that anyone can do is at the end if you want to skip to that part. I received two interesting emails yesterday. One was a colleague asking for advice on how to respond to... Read more

Preaching the Didache: What Is Your Canon and Why?

Last updated on: January 16, 2012 at 10:47 am By Carl Gregg

The Didache (usually pronounced Did-ah-Kay) is an ancient Christian document written around 50-70 CE and rediscovered in 1873. It is addressed not to radical itinerant peasants like Jesus and his original followers, but to householders as a manual for how “to adapt the way of Jesus to the exigencies of family, of occupation, of home — the very things that Jesus and his wandering apostles had left behind.” This post is the first entry in a new series I will be... Read more