As I’ve been reflecting on this week’s lectionary passage for Sunday, and upon last weeks passage and sermon, I’m still enthralled with the concept of truth in the scriptures. Today’s lectionary reading fed the fire as well. These are the two passages that stoked my imagination and just a couple of thoughts. 1 John 520And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we... Read more

RC for Redemption Church – cap for re-cap…get it? I’m going to attempt to recap the previous week’s research and message each week here on the blog. If you want to listen to the messages I’m giving, you can go to the RC Website. The Road to Emmaus04.26.09Luke 24:13-35 This week at RC we talked about the story of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. This story is one of the most complete and well developed resurrection stories. N.T. Wright... Read more

So every evening while in the UK, we would walk the half a block down to the Green Man pub in Hurst, Berkshire. I have no real frame of reference in Kansas City, or America for that matter, through which to describe these little English pubs, especially the Green Man. If there was a place like this in town, I’d drive there every chance I could. The timbers in the roof were made from decommissioned ships and are over 1000... Read more

I’m being shamed by the stack of books at which I indolently stare. I need to read. Maybe this week I’ll make a dent? I thought I’d just get them out there – start a little public humiliation: Jurgen MoltmannTheology of HopeThe Crucified GodThe Church in the Power of the Spirit (Re-read) Walter RauschenbuschChristianity and the Social CrisisChristianizing the Social OrderTheology for the Social Gospel (Re-read) Rodney StarkThe Rise of ChristianityCities of GodDiscovering GodWhat Americans Really Believe The Stragglers: books... Read more

At Redemption Church this Lent, we’ve been studying Where God Happens by Rowan Williams. It’s been a fruitful sort of online Lenten book club. Scott Savage and I have been midrashing this book together, hoping to assist people as they wrestle with the material. We’ve been recording the sessions and posting them here. Williams is the Archbishop of Canterbury – the head of the Church of England – and he’s brilliant. This work is packed with great information, but it’s... Read more

I’m trying to learn about 2000 words over the next year or so. I am learning how much I love language and vocabulary in particular. Precise words packed with meaning and connotation are an incredible tool. Here are a few good words: desultory: having no purpose, plan or inthusiasm; aimless; haphazard; digressing at random; lacking a plan.obdurate: unmoved by persuasion, stubbornly resistant to moral influence.intractable: not easy to control or deal with; hard to work with.cabal: a small group of... Read more

It’s been a couple of weeks since Kristin and I got back from England. So far we’re still plotting our return. Something about that place just sort of gets under your skin in a way that makes the suburbs feel a little dessicated. Just a few faves: – Ate fish & chips at “The Eagle and Child” in Oxford. It’s the pub where the Inklings hung out during the 30s and 40s. – Spent a day in Oxford and saw... Read more

This is an interesting MP3 of a debate between two world class scholars on the problem of evil. I’m not going to comment, only recommend that you give this a listen; fascinating stuff. Read more

I’m reading this book right now and it’s literally ruining my day… This is a story from chapter one. “Sadly, young mothers such as Isatu Turay in Sierra Leone are not an anomaly in the twenty-first century. Isatu and her husband were living in a refugee camp in Sierra Leone along with their four young children. One morning heavily armed men entered their house and demanded all their possessions. The rebels became upset when Isatu and her husband had only... Read more

AFTER ANNUNCIATIONThis is the irrational seasonWhen love blooms bright and wild.Had mary been filled with reasonThere’d have been no room for the child. – Madeleine L’Engle Read more