Recently Calvary staged a talent show, during which we learned (if we didn’t know already) that we have quite a talented congregation.  One of the highlights of the day was a song, written and performed by Eric Bebber.  This musical masterpiece is a fitting tribute to this crazy, wonderful community of faith.  Enjoy. A different kind of Baptist Folks like me and you Some people call us hippy church But we call it the zoo! You won’t find any animals... Read more

I dare not fully describe the day I’ve had here.  Not only would no one believe the extremes of this day (from a generous, unexpected gift to the church to two of my children in a school bus accident (they are fine)), but I suspect more than a few readers might question my sanity if I tell you everything.  Not that that would be anything new . . . .  Suffice it to say that you will understand the basic... Read more

I know this is a dangerous admission for someone in my field, but there really are plenty of good reasons not to read the Bible.   The Bible’s format is imposing, and usually the text is too small.  Many of the words are hard to pronounce.  It’s often boring, repetitive, violent, nationalistic, full of imperfect characters, often offensive.  There are so many different versions of the Bible, how is one supposed to know which is the best?  And, where do you start?  Actually... Read more

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Early in 2009, during the season of Epiphany, we spent several weeks talking in worship and Sunday School about call—that is, the compulsion we feel sometimes to get up from our regular lives and follow God. While I may have thought initially that we were introducing a new concept, turns out most everyone around here could articulate some kind of reference to call—from, “I feel that God is calling me to... Read more

I hate to say out loud that I officially feel I’ve had a run of bad luck lately, but at the moment I am lacking the appropriate theological words to describe my life.  Case in point: this week was my first full week back at the office after a three-month sabbatical.  To begin the week I had the privilege of responding to the invitation of Montgomery County to spend Monday languishing in the jury lounge at the Montgomery County courthouse... Read more

I haven’t been writing for awhile, and this week I am back at work after three months on sabbatical, so I am thinking my first post should probably be something deep and profound, spiritually hard-hitting and theologically thought-provoking. Alas, there was a mouse in my office this morning, and ever since its squeak-filled, untimely death at the hands of our Church Administrator, Paul, I just have not been able to concentrate on worship planning.  Or anything else remotely spiritual, for... Read more

It has been a privilege and a haven for me to spend three mornings a week in the offices of Baibala Hemolele, the Hawaiian Bible Project.  My interaction with the Partners in Development staff and the Baibala team members has managed to do what I’d somehow hoped would happen: to bring a little more closely together the passion I have for holy scripture and Gospel community . . . and the influences of my Hawaiian culture and heritage that perhaps have been... Read more

Sharing the congregational prayer we prayed on Sunday in worship at Kaumakapili Church.  One of the highlights of the summer has been worshipping with this congregation. We hear you calling us, loving God, to a life of humility, gentleness, and patience.  Keep your call before us in this hour that we may recognize and celebrate our oneness in Jesus Christ.  May your Spirit unite us in the bond of peace.  Speak to us of the Savior, who bore humanity’s shame... Read more

I was never very good at languages . . . which can be something of a handicap when you spend your graduate school days in a foreign country studying a text written originally in several different ancient languages.  I’m not overly proud that I only (barely) managed a C in biblical Greek and never learned to converse very well in Swiss German or Czech.  I just have always thought that my gifts lay elsewhere, as my mother would say.  (And,... Read more

In the hardship post that is the house where we are staying on Oahu this summer, I sit sometimes and watch the ocean.  It spreads out in front of the back porch, coloring the background behind Diamond Head.  Completely upstanding citizens would kill for a view like this to narrate their morning coffee . . . in my best moments I remember to be grateful and astonished, really, that childhood neighbors would so generously offer their empty house for our... Read more