This is the third installment of a series of blog posts outlining principles of inner-reformation taken from the life of St. Francis and Martin Luther. This series was prepared as a series of talks for the Order of Lutheran Franciscans 2017 Retreat.  Inner Reformation Principle 2: Spiritual Discipline  The second principle of inner reformation is that of unceasing spiritual discipline. This is probably the most apparent principle of spiritual awakening, and yet is also the hardest. Both Francis and Luther were committed to being disciplined in... Read more

This is the second installment of a series of blog posts outlining principles of inner-reformation taken from the life of St. Francis and Martin Luther. This series was prepared as a series of talks for the Order of Lutheran Franciscans 2017 Retreat.  Inner Reformation Principle 1: Awareness to Spirit’s Promptings  The first of these principles is the inner awareness or awareness to hear and respond to the voice of the Spirit of God.   God is always speaking. The Scriptures proclaim that... Read more

**NOTE: This piece is written from the perspective of a gay Christian man. Therefore, the language and examples will reflect my perspective. However, these principles can be contextualized and applied to anyones perspectives! Lets talk about sex, shall we? There is probably no topic that can trigger both excitement and shame quite as much as sex. Especially if you grew up, like a majority of Americans, in a religiously influenced context, the topic (and practice) of sex has probably been... Read more

Yesterday, FOX News posted an article and interview about a Tweet that the progressive UCC Minister, Rev. Al Sharpton, tweeted out over the weekend that critiqued Trump’s refugee ban, saying: “Before you head to church today, remember to thank God for his son, Jesus a refugee who fled to Egypt.” Apparently, a number of conservative Christians responded to Rev. Sharpton on Twitter, claiming that he didn’t know the Bible and was making a wild, inaccurate claim about Jesus. Thus, FOX... Read more

For far too long, to many of us have allowed our complacency to keep us from acting. We fell into a trance, believing that things couldn’t really get that bad. But then the unthinkable happened. I often think back to election night in November. I had gathered together with a group of my LGBT+ friends at our local Democrat watch party expecting to spend the night celebrating a victory for progress. As the night went on and the numbers rolled... Read more

Originally delivered at First Baptist Church, Denver, Colorado on January 15, 2017. Good morning, First Baptist! Before I get in to my message this morning, I’d like to reread my paraphrase of our New Testament text from this morning. This comes from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Paul writes: “Jesus embodies for us what true peace looks like, for he was sent once and for all to take down the great wall of hatred and hostility that has divided us,... Read more