I take comfort from such people as William Stringfellow. He was called a “lay theologian“: he wasn’t ordained, didn’t have a theology degree, and didn’t attend church. Nevertheless his theological contributions to Christianity and the church were enormous. His greatest involvement was with the Sojourners community. It’s a shame if you haven’t read him. (I would suggest, for starters, An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land. It’s an excellent treatment of the principalities and powers and... Read more
I remember as a young believer being required to do door-to-door evangelism and witnessing at the beach, etc. So many times I was challenged with very good questions I couldn’t drum up an answer to. Something about these people impressed me and made me suspect that their spirituality was more mature than mine. I realized then that perhaps it isn’t so much about being able to provide the answers, but being able to ask the questions. Get my book. It... Read more
You can buy the original or a fine art print of this image here. I spent all weekend working on this piece that I call “Home?” I’m calling her Sophia. Notice a few things: there are no footprints in the snow leading to where she is standing. She is leaving the house far below. Is she turning to look one more time, or is she thinking of going back? We can faintly see someone standing in front of her home.... Read more
One of the greatest challenges for me as a pastor is to not succumb to the constant pressure of expectation. Members have fantasies of what their pastor should be. Church organizations, denominations or movements have fantasies of what its pastors should be. But worst of all, pastors themselves have fantasies of what they should be or would like to be. I make it my personal challenge to be exactly who I am: myself. I also encourage others to be exactly... Read more
You can buy a fine art print of this cartoon here as a nice reminder. I knew it was a lie the moment I first heard it. My life experience confirmed it. Canadian poet and singer/ song-writer Leonard Cohen once said in an interview: Mankind must rediscover the crucifixion as a universal symbol, not just an experiment in sadism or masochism or arrogance. It will have to be rediscovered because that’s where man is at… on the cross. That pretty... Read more
Today’s sermon summary is taken from Mark 3: 1-6. It’s the story of the man who entered the synagogue with the withered hand, and they watched to see if Jesus was going to heal him or not so that they might accuse him. (This is free for you to use if you wish.) I want to just highlight a few of its aspects that I think are very important. The first is that the authorities are more concerned about what... Read more
Always beyond the gates. Outside the city. To the desert. The wilderness. Beyond the limits of my control. For that which I seek does not dwell in temples of stone made with hands, or sanctuaries of words made with pen or mouth. Just because I write a fence for the Mystery doesn’t mean I’ve captured it, for my fences are always full of holes, and the Mystery has already moved while I turned to construct the compound. The Mystery is... Read more
You can buy a fine art print of this image, or the own the original! Click here!. <– click there 🙂 I made a new friend, Viveka von Rosen, also known as LinkedinExpert (her Twitter handle)! She loved my image of “Fearless” and wrote a great commentary on it as she applied it to her own personal challenge to being fearless on social media. Check out her post at Linked Into Business here. Here’s an excerpt: I recently received a... Read more
I realize mind-games and manipulative behaviors go on in every sector. But what I’ve experienced is that when someone is nasty in the work place, they are just nasty, it is recognized as such, and called for what it is. Usually. Not always. But what I’ve noticed over the many years in the church, in spirituality, in Christianity, is that the nastiness in religious domains is more subversive. Christians, I’ve concluded, generally want to be nice, sincere people of faith.... Read more
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