Note to self: North America is not the center of the universe. I would like to think that I am a person who knows this and lives a life that reflects that knowledge, but it seems it only takes one Baptist World Alliance meeting to remind one of how limited her worldview truly is. Last night Malaysian Baptists hosted a dinner at the annual meeting of the Baptist World Alliance.  I confess I felt a measure of shame that the... Read more

Southeast Asia, I think I might love you. The Baptist World Alliance is meeting this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  It’s one of those big meetings in a downtown hotel where you could be insulated from the world around you.  But who wants to come to Kuala Lumpur and stay in the hotel?  No, thanks. This morning was the first morning of meetings and, after attending morning worship and the “First timers informational session,” I found myself with a couple... Read more

I can’t exactly verify this fact since the window next to my seat is black as ink at the moment, but the in-flight navigation system insists we are currently cruising over the Bay of Bengal. The Bay of Bengal?  Seventh grade geography class, anyone? All night long, in fact I’ve watched our progress flying over parts of the world I’ve never even been near: Russia, Turkey, Afghanistan, India, Nepal….  It’s kind of like falling asleep and waking up on the... Read more

All God’s Creatures Genesis 1:1-2:1a; Psalm 8; Luke 15:1-10 Many of you are aware that we held a benefit auction here at the church in February, an event to help us get ready to celebrate our 150th season as a church, which began two weeks ago on Calvary’s 149th birthday.  To help  make the auction a success, many people donated: some talented musicians provided entertainment; some amazingly organized folks pulled all the details together; some of you helped with creating... Read more

A Holy Mess: The Day of Pentecost Acts 2:1-21 I know I use this quote from Annie Dillard in a sermon at least once a year (just had to say that, since I know John Taylor keeps track), but I just can’t apologize.  The truth is, I should probably quote her more often than I do.  Annie Dillard is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of many books, including Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Teaching a Stone to Talk.  I confess that... Read more

Becoming Disciples: Live As Witnesses Luke 24:44-53 Now that the weather has gotten warm, a phenomenon that reminds me every year why I love the co-housing community where I live has begun.  I like to refer to it as “college dorm for grown-ups,” but what it really is is just an old fashioned neighborhood kind of vibe.  Everybody hangs out on the balcony; kids run around chasing each other; someone fires up the grill and everybody eats dinner together; deeper... Read more

Karl Barth is so last century. The question among my contemporaries (okay, one of the questions, along with others like, “Can you wear shorts under your robe if nobody knows?”) is: “Who among us is emerging as a groundbreaking theologian of the 21st Century?” As I have been telling some of you for years, the theological paradigm of the future is somehow related to the work I have done, very committedly, for some time now.  I like to call it... Read more

Becoming Disciples: Keep My Commandments John 14:15-21 For the past few weeks we’ve been living in the light of Easter, following the first disciples around and trying to figure out, along with them, what the unbelievable events of Easter might mean in our everyday, post-Easter quest to follow Jesus. Many of the Gospel passages in our lectionary cycle following Easter tell about post resurrection appearances of Jesus.  This week and last week, however, we read about a conversation Jesus had... Read more

Read my latest thoughts at the Associated Baptist Press. Read more