If the Reformation is Always Reforming, Should the Revolution be Always Revolving?

Last updated on: January 31, 2014 at 2:00 pm By Bruce Epperly

A Conversation with Edward Gilbreath’s Birmingham Revolution: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Epic Challenge to the Church The parents of the Protestant Reformation asserted that the reformation is always reforming. Although the children of the Reformation often became mired in issues of biblical inerrancy, the second coming, divine predestination, and the scope of salvation, there is an inherent unrest in Protestantism. We can see the Promised Land in the distance, but we can never claim to fully settle there. God’s horizon... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – February 2, 2014

Last updated on: January 30, 2014 at 4:10 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections on the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 2, 2014 Micah 6:1-8 Psalm 15 I Corinthians 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12 Today’s scriptures turn our social norms upside down. The race is not always to the swift. The powerful don’t always win. Independence is a vice, and interdependence a virtue. Micah charts this week’s lectionary adventure. The prophet proclaims God’s loving kindness. God has gracefully led the people to freedom. Without God they would be an enslaved people. Grace... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary for January 26, 2014

Last updated on: January 23, 2014 at 3:53 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections for Sunday, January 26, 2014 Isaiah 9:1-4 ; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; I Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23 Today’s readings capture the spirit of the magi. Following the star, they find Jesus. The light of the Christ Child still shines are guides the way of pilgrims and those who struggle with personal and communal dis-ease. Light brings rejoicing. After years of chaos and despair, the light has come. The path ahead is clear and hope is on the horizon. So,... Read more

The Elvis in All of Us: Responding to “The Seeker King: The Spirituality Biography of Elvis Presley”

Last updated on: January 17, 2014 at 11:55 am By Bruce Epperly

There is a saying, “God is like Elvis, you see God everywhere.” In light of Gary Tillery’s The Seeker King, we might say “We are like Elvis, you’ll see us everywhere.” Elvis Presley once admitted, “All I want is to know the truth, to know and experience God. I’m a searcher, that’s what I’m all about.” Behind the persona, fame, and fanfare, Elvis was a seeker. His broad interest in scripture, mystical experience, theosophy, and healing might lead us to describe... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: The Second Sunday after Epiphany – January 19, 2014

Last updated on: January 14, 2014 at 11:30 am By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections on The Second Sunday after the Epiphany Sunday, January 19, 2014 Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalm 40:1-11 I Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42 What does it mean to be “chosen” by God? Images of vocation and call are often as problematic as helpful, personally and theologically. Often they are used to exclude some and elevate others and to assume a personal or national uniqueness that applies to oneself and one’s people but not to others. Moreover, is being “chosen” something unconditional,... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: The Baptism of Jesus – January 12, 2014

Last updated on: January 7, 2014 at 5:54 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections on The Baptism of Jesus for January 12, 2014 Isaiah 42:1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10:34-43 (preferred reading Acts 10:1-23, 34-35, 44-48) Matthew 3:13-17 This Sunday we celebrate the life-transforming power of baptism. While baptism is not necessary for salvation, it is a sign of God’s grace and opens the door for experiencing a greater impact of God’s energy of love in our lives and communities. In like manner, just as a couple do not have to share rings... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: Epiphany Sunday, January 5, 2014

Last updated on: January 2, 2014 at 12:20 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections on Epiphany Sunday – January 5, 2014 Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12 Some congregations will choose to celebrate Epiphany Sunday on January 5, using the readings assigned for the feast of the Epiphany. This sets the stage for the expansive spirit of Epiphany. Epiphany affirms that God’s revelation is both global and local, within the Jewish tradition and throughout all creation. Today, we can affirm that Christ is present in all faith traditions as... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: Saved by an Intimate God – The First Sunday of Christmas – December 29, 2013

Last updated on: December 27, 2013 at 2:55 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections for the First Sunday of Christmas – December 29, 2013 Isaiah 63:7-9 Psalm 148 Hebrews 2:10-18 Matthew 2:13-23 Salvation is global as well as individual. This vision is at the heart of the incarnation. The world is saved one person – one creature – at a time. God’s healing initiative is everywhere and joins the healing of nations and planets with the healing of persons. We need a healing environment; our own healing also transforms the environment to... Read more

Vision is Everything: A Response to Robert J. Cormier’s “Better Than We Believed”

Last updated on: December 27, 2013 at 1:08 pm By Bruce Epperly

I am very appreciative of Robert J. Cormier’s Better Than We Believed (now featured at the Patheos Book Club). Cormier sees faith as a vision which shapes how we understand the events of our lives. Doctrines and dogmas are important, but derivative and somewhat relative in the living of our daily lives. While they may have a place in our faith, polarizing viewpoints on issues such as paper (scriptural) or papal infallibility, abortion, the virgin birth, science and religion, and the... Read more

The Wisdom of the Hazelnut: A Conversation with Mirabai Starr

Last updated on: December 17, 2013 at 11:59 am By Bruce Epperly

It is a great joy to read the words of another mystical author, Julian of Norwich, flowing through the creative and mystical translating of Mirabai Starr. Her translation of The Showings of Julian of Norwich is exquisite and inspiring. I know Mirabai and count her as a friend, and recognize that her words come from deep within, from the still small voice, as the original author’s wisdom bursts from through her. Her translation is truly holy and speaks to the... Read more