Thursday Sermon: Transfiguration – From Crafty Myths to Real Truth

Last updated on: March 2, 2017 at 2:14 pm By Tom Truby

Pastors have a frequent question when they begin to discover mimetic theory. “That’s great. But how does it preach?” Reverend Tom Truby shows that mimetic theory is a powerful tool that enables pastors to preach the Gospel in a way that is meaningful and refreshing to the modern world. Each Wednesday, Teaching Nonviolent Atonement will highlight his sermons as an example of preaching the Gospel through mimetic theory. In this sermon, Tom explores the difference between myth and the Gospel truth.... Read more

Hijab for Lent

Last updated on: March 3, 2017 at 1:21 pm By Lindsey Paris-Lopez

I am wearing hijab for Lent. Many personal, moral, and spiritual considerations led me to the decision to wear the headscarf as I follow my Lord on this holy journey. During Lent, Jesus leads us through the depths of human suffering into an awakening of compassion – co-suffering – as we confront and reflect on our own entanglement in the matrix of violence we have built since the foundation of the world. When we take up our crosses and follow... Read more

Wednesday Sermon: Announcing a New Freedom!

Last updated on: February 22, 2017 at 11:56 am By Tom Truby

Pastors have a frequent question when they begin to discover mimetic theory. “That’s great. But how does it preach?” Reverend Tom Truby shows that mimetic theory is a powerful tool that enables pastors to preach the Gospel in a way that is meaningful and refreshing to the modern world. Each Wednesday, Teaching Nonviolent Atonement will highlight his sermons as an example of preaching the Gospel through mimetic theory. In this sermon, Tom explores Jesus teaching to “love your enemies.” He tells... Read more

7 Biblical Reasons for Churches to Be Open and Affirming

Last updated on: February 21, 2017 at 12:35 pm By Adam Ericksen

My church’s Facebook page has a picture at the top. It proudly displays members of our congregation at a gay pride parade. They smile as they hold a banner with a rainbow colored heart with the words, “Love YES! Equality YES!” We want people in our neighborhood to know that we are an Open and Affirming congregation. We proclaim the fact that God loves you, just as you are. You don’t have to become something you are not to earn... Read more

“Love Your Enemies”: Expanding Our Hearts Through Compassion

Last updated on: February 20, 2017 at 1:38 pm By Lindsey Paris-Lopez

“Love your enemies.” I’m reflecting on this, the hardest of Jesus’s commandments, as I grieve my own nation’s policies of war, exclusion, vengeance and cruelty, policies envisioned through the lens of enmity. The lens of enmity warps our vision, inverting it so that the outside world is obscured by our inward fears. It contorts the human faces in front of us into monsters. It magnifies our own pain and obstructs that of others. It blinds us with lies. Blinded by... Read more

Smarter Than Satan: 3 Mistakes the Devil Wants You To Make

Last updated on: February 16, 2017 at 3:20 pm By Suzanne Ross

Trump political advisor Steve Bannon recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about why Donald Trump won the election. Apparently in the context of a conversation about liberal politicians and the media’s failure to perceive the new political realities, Bannon told The Hollywood Reporter that “darkness is good”. For his agenda, I presume. Then he went on to say, “Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That’s power. It only helps us when [liberals and the media] get it wrong. When they’re blind... Read more

Wednesday Sermon: Jesus, Hell, and Managing Anger

Last updated on: February 15, 2017 at 1:31 pm By Tom Truby

Pastors have a frequent question when they begin to discover mimetic theory. “That’s great. But how does it preach?” Reverend Tom Truby shows that mimetic theory is a powerful tool that enables pastors to preach the Gospel in a way that is meaningful and refreshing to the modern world. Each Wednesday, Teaching Nonviolent Atonement will highlight his sermons as an example of preaching the Gospel through mimetic theory. In this sermon, Tom explains one of the most difficult passages in the... Read more

Valentine’s Day Originated in National Resistance

Last updated on: February 14, 2017 at 3:22 pm By Adam Ericksen

Forget flowers. Chocolate? Nah. Valentine’s Day is about one thing: national resistance in the name of love. Make no mistake. St. Valentine was hard core. He lived during the 3rd century, under the threat of persecution. Legend claims that the Roman Emperor prohibited young men to marry. He believed that married soldiers would be distracted by concerns for their wives and children. St. Valentine, National Resistance, and the God of Love St. Valentine rebelled against this national edict in the... Read more

Is the Truth Still Out There? A Live Webinar with Theologian Grant Kaplan

Last updated on: February 15, 2017 at 1:32 pm By Suzanne Ross

I wonder if you remember the motto of the hit TV series The X-Files: “The truth is out there”. It seems a bit naïve now, doesn’t it? In our post-truth world, the possibility of truth has been called into question. Like the blurring of fact and fiction on the show, we have been subjected to lies, half-truths and smoke screens from politicians, social media and news outlets. But unlike Mulder and Scully, who never lost their faith in the truth,... Read more

The Sermon on the Mount: A Theology of Resistance

Last updated on: February 9, 2017 at 4:46 pm By Lindsey Paris-Lopez

Now is the time for a robust theology of resistance. As the violence that has always surrounded us swirls and stings our eyes, kicked up by the rough boots of the new administration trampling over the American Empire, I, like many, find sanctuary in my faith. But we need more than spiritual refuge. We need guidance in the desert as harsh winds of distrust and fear erode shelters of compassion and kindness. As the fragile foundations of democracy crack under... Read more