The Church could learn a few things from Jimmy Fallon, the new host of the “Tonight Show.” And it’s no surprise, really. Jimmy has said in interviews he once wanted to be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church and was influenced early in life by his experiences as an altar boy. But he never felt he could really be a priest because he couldn’t keep a straight face. As a priest myself, it’s always good to be reminded that... Read more
I can’t wait to see Noah. Already the battle over its biblical accuracy is being debated. This from a story that has already been adapted from and by other ancient cultures. There is not one flood story. There are many. As with any film based on a Bible story, I was a little skeptical at first. But when I heard Darren Aronofsky was directing it, I immediately felt relief. If there’s one director who can do the story of Noah and the Flood... Read more
I don’t blame World Vision for reversing their decision to accept employees in same-sex marriages. I don’t. They made the exact decision they had to, precisely for the people they serve in impoverished communities. They made the exact decision many writers and bloggers called for yesterday. Many asked folks to think of the children who would lose sponsorships, and that is exactly what World Vision did. In the nonprofit world, money talks. Period. But now, let’s talk about what we... Read more
Does a corporation have religious rights? That is the question at the heart of Hobby Lobby’s fight against the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. It’s an important question — affecting everything from health care to election funding to the numerous anti-LGBT/religious freedom laws — that is in the news again as Hobby Lobby takes its case to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. It’s potentially one of the most important cases of the year. And it got me to thinking. What happens if... Read more
Lent 1 — Year A — Gen. 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Rom. 5:12-19, Matt. 4:1-11 I don’t want to talk about the temptation of Jesus today. Or the temptation of Adam and Eve. In fact, I really don’t want to talk much about temptation at all. Because, to me, Lent isn’t really about temptation and how to resist it. It’s not about white-knuckling it through our cravings for caffeine, chocolate, snarky comments or whatever else we’ve chosen to do without... Read more
It was the Greatest Story Ever Sold. The new Jesus film, Son of God, produced by the husband-and-wife holy duo Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, isn’t really a movie as much as it’s a marketing ploy. It’s pretty much the same thing folks saw — for free — during the History Channel’s Bible miniseries. It’s a good reminder that Christianity doesn’t have sacred cows. Just cash cows. I decided to livetweet the movie last night under the hashtag #sonofOMG (thank... Read more
A couple of months ago, over drinks and a lot of laughter, Mark Sandlin and I hatched an idea for a podcast and sketched it out on crumpled, damp bar napkin. I know. It’s a little cliché. Over the next two months, a number of things have changed. The name of the podcast itself changed. I was ordained a priest in the Episcopal church (more on that next week). Some of the podcast’s content changed. It took longer than we... Read more
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Isaiah 9:2-7 – Psalm 96 – Titus 2:11-14 – Luke 2:1-20 A light shined brightly in the middle of the dark, frozen night. From somewhere deep in the muddy, cold trenches of World War I, candles began appearing one by one atop the parapets, where just a few hours earlier riflemen had been firing bullets across the battlefield. And in a land of deep darkness, on them, a light began to shine. And... Read more
Thanksgiving Day Homily — Matthew 6: 25-33 (Due to confusion at my parish, in the Prayer Book, and in the BCP iPhone app, I ended up preaching the Thanksgiving lectionary for Year B rather than Year C). I’ll never forget the first day my wife went back to work after we had our first son. I was a nervous wreck. In addition to the worries every new father has, I’m the youngest in my family, and I never babysat or... Read more
The resurrection didn’t just happen. It happens. The resurrection was not a one-time, historical event which happened 2,000 years ago. It is an ongoing reality that has been happening again and again. That’s why the recent conversations between Tony Jones and Marcus Borg over whether the resurrection happened bodily and physically, to my mind, miss the point. It’s a red herring in the life of faith. The resurrection isn’t something we intellectually assent to, but something we are invited to... Read more
Edges of Faith
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