“I’m always inspired by dreamers and doers. Anyone who is thinking differently about how the world should work. Or anyone that is living out a common grace vision for their work. Creating good works that serve others and that last for more than a season or a weekend.” — Erik Lokkesmoe, founder of Different Drummer, on what inspires his work. At an early screening of Last Days in the Desert, the new movie starring Ewan McGregor, Executive Producer Erik Lokkesmoe told the... Read more
By Elizabeth Hagan Mothers Day. In many churches its celebrated as a church holiday when Pentecost, Trinity, or All Saints Day are not. In some, it’s the second highest attendance Sunday after Easter (I know it was in the churches I’ve pastored!). On May 8th, it will be rare that you don’t find a bulletin cover with the title “Mother’s Day” printed on the front. Oh, how we love the day! In fact, so many churches have Mother’s Day routines executed with robot-like procession. Few can... Read more
What is a mother, anyway? Clearly it is not merely a biological relationship. Mother’s Day can be celebrated by two men or two women who adopt and raise a child. Mother’s Day is also for incarcerated mothers of children being raised by another “mother.” And of course step-mothers are mothers. Yup. Nothing is simple anymore. Read more
“You can’t approach playing a character such as Jesus without being a little freaked out. It’s incredibly daunting …but you have to put that aside. You have to start with finding the man in you and focusing on that.”— Ewan McGregor, on playing Jesus in “Last Days in the Desert” There’s a surprisingly funny moment in the otherwise serious and contemplative new movie Last Days in the Desert, where Jesus (played by Ewan McGregor) and the teenage boy he’s met in the desert... Read more
Last Days in the Desert, a new film by writer/director Rodrigo Garcia and starring Ewan McGregor, is an evocative meditation on the humanness of Jesus. Premiering in select cities May 13, the movie follows Jesus in an imagined chapter from his forty days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, he struggles with the Devil, also played by McGregor, over the fate of an ordinary family in crisis, setting for himself a dramatic test with distinctly human... Read more
If it weren’t for hip-hop, I wouldn’t be in the church, period. What I later heard from some great pastors, I first heard from some dope emcees and gifted songwriters whose songs are described by church folk as “indecent” and “improper” and “unorthodox”. They are, and I thank God for them, because those were my burning bushes. Read more
The first words of the first book of the Bible are, “In the beginning, God created…” God’s first act was to create. He created many wonders: heaven, earth, light, night, and all creatures that roam earth and sky ~ but that wasn’t enough creating ~ so God created humankind. And the first thing that God said after creating humankind was, “Be fruitful and multiply.” So God wanted those that he created to go and create! Ours is a creative God,... Read more
News has been circulating of a troubling incident last Saturday evening in which the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President of North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and architect of the nationally acclaimed Moral Monday Movement, was removed from a plane at the Washington, DC airport after an encounter with another passenger. The Rev. Barber recently released this statement about the event: Statement On Airline’s Decision to Remove Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II from Plane Last Night Durham, April 16, 2016... Read more
Today is tax day and the IRS wants our money. Many of us would “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s” (Luke 20:25) if we only had it to give. Maybe we can spin straw into gold like what happens in the tale of Rumplestiltskin. Do you remember? The king shuts a young woman in a tower with a pile of straw and demands she transform it into gold, which she does with the help of a creepy creature named... Read more
By Harriett Jane Olson I meet empowered and empowering women every day. Women who are learning and teaching the skills to improve their own lives, the lives of their families and the lives of people all around them. Women who find themselves by standing up for others. Women who offer leadership at work, at church and in government institutions. I meet empowered and empowering women every day because my job as a leader of United Methodist Women is to help... Read more
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