”It is a serious thing, to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection... Read more
I was off the internet all of last week. My family and I were camping in Arkansas sans computers or cell phones, and all I knew before unplugging Sunday after church was that there had been some kind of tragic attack in Orlando that appeared to be fueled by hate. By the time I plugged back in this past Sunday, I was surprised and saddened to see all the different narratives that have come out of this tragedy. It is a reminder for me... Read more
Yesterday at Highland (the church I serve) we had a big day of blessing babies. In both services, we had dozens of young families lined up on stage as they were surrounded by the elders and leaders of the church who laid hands on these young parents. Then the entire church raised their hands toward them and blessed them, making promises to walk alongside these children as they grow. It was a beautiful Gospel moment of people from 5 different generation vowing... Read more
It’s interesting that at the end of the Gospel of John, John writes that he’s not telling us everything. He only writes what will help people have faith in Jesus, because if he were to write everything there wouldn’t be enough books in the world to hold it in. And so it’s really significant that John is the only Gospel that tells us about Jesus at a Wedding. All the other gospels open with stories about Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation, but... Read more
I love this video. Peter Rollins is a brilliant thinker who I’ve got to spend some time with in the past, and he’s the real deal. While his introduction may leave some of you feeling a bit uncomfortable, I’d like to challenge you to listen past the surface of what he’s saying. It is after all a Parable. What I love about this is they way it moves from Theology to something tangible. Ideas are empty if they just remain in our... Read more
So I just recently finished reading 1st John, that little letter tucked away at the end of the New Testament, and if you were going to summarize that book in one sentence it’s easy…God is love, so love each other. It’s not even a long sentence. John repeats this simple idea over and over again in different ways. For John (someone who spent some years with Jesus) you could boil down what it meant to follow Jesus into the simple call... Read more
Today I want to close out this series on Christians and politics with a final plea to reconsider the implications of what we Christians say we believe and how that must matter in November, but probably not in the ways we think. A few years ago, I wrote a book on Acts called “How to Start A Riot” In it, I make the argument that most of the reasons Christians in America struggle with either the idolatry of politics or the total... Read more
“You can safely assume you’ve made God into your own image, when it turns out God hates all the same people you do.” -Anne Lammott It was June 7th, 1964. They had all gathered at the local Methodist church like always. They were having another one of their get-togethers, and as usual they started with a prayer. Of course, they prayed, they were God’s chosen people, after all, saved by Jesus to bless the world. But on this particular night,... Read more
So this series is going to be for other preachers and ministers and local church volunteers who are just learning the ropes of day-to-day ministry, as well as those who have done it for a while and want to share and learn other tools people are using in different places. I want to write about some of the things that I’ve learned and am learning. I’m excited about this series, but it’s going to be a bit different than what I... Read more
When I was young we had a nice woman come and knock on our door campaigning for herself to be the new Saline County Treasurer. She was kind and bubbly, and she asked me if I would help her win. I was 10. But I said yes. My friend and I went up and down both of the streets in our area, knocking on doors and handing out yard signs and bumper stickers for her. We even had learned a few... Read more
Jonathan Storment
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