Our last week of Advent falls on Christmas Eve. Depending on your Christian tradition, you may have to go to church twice today! However, if you’re a low-church Protestant, you can still get by with the one service. I won’t tell. No matter if you attend 100 services or none, today’s Church calendar meditates on the peace of God as we wait through the final days before the birth of Jesus. Today’s reading comes from Luke: “In the sixth month... Read more
On the third week of Advent we leave Mark’s Gospel and read the Gospel of John. We read about staying awake to the needs of our community and how it can be hard to do the work of our faith. Today, we look at John, who is by far the most theological and christological of the gospels. In John, the Light is the coming of what we have been looking for since the beginning of time. “A man came, sent... Read more
Advent is a time of waiting – we wait for the birth of Jesus. Our first week of advent was about staying alert to what God is doing in our world today. This week, we stay in the Gospel of Mark with the introduction of the story. We find John the Baptist doing the work of Advent. “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going... Read more
Advent is the start of the new lectionary calendar in the Church. Advent (from the latin for “arrival”) is the 4 week period before Christmas that we wait for the arrival of Jesus being born. The Church is beginning the “B” calendar this year with specific readings for each week. In the grand tradition of the Church interpreting the scriptures for their time, let’s read through the Gospel readings with eyes in the 21st century. Impending Doom Our Gospel reading... Read more
The Protestant branch of Christianity seems to have hangups on Mary. It might be because we fear the veneration of Mary to the same status as Jesus. Or it could be another way to separate us from the Roman Catholics. Either way, Mary seems to have a very small roll in Protestantism. You can find her in December with Joseph on a donkey heading to Bethlehem. Maybe she’s laying Jesus in the manger with shepherds watching. Alternatively, we may see... Read more
I love Thanksgiving. It is by far my favorite holiday. Christmas can take a hike – I want to eat Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce – give me Thanksgiving! Plus you have the great story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a meal in peace. It seems that it’s the perfect holiday. However, the last couple of decades have brought doubt on the actual story of Thanksgiving. The brutal nature of the Settlers is contrasted with kindness of the American... Read more
If you ask a White Conservative Christian in America if they’re under attack, you might hear “yes!” Much of this subset feels that they are being forced out of their beliefs. Ultra conservative and fundamentalist preachers spout on about the secularization of America. They have started to become more active politically, focusing on school boards and local elections to further their beliefs in government. Even still, there is a lack of what Frederick Douglas called ‘praying with your legs’. “I... Read more
Christian theology has a long history of apologetics. While we might think of apologetics today as someone proving a literal 6-day creation or historical credibility of the Bible, the legacy of apologetics is rooted in philosophy. Christianity sprouted in the midst of Greek philosophy and has its fingerprint throughout the New Testament and the Early Church Fathers. Philosophy has tried to define and prove that God exists. Different philosophers in different eras have put together arguments for the existence of... Read more
Halloween is the time to think all things creepy. There is one town in America that may be synonymous with the devil – Salem, Massachusetts. The witch trials of Salem have been speculated by historians and enjoyed by our modern-day horror fans. However, Salem wasn’t the only witch scare and trials in the Colonies. Almost fifty years before the witch trials in Salem, there was a problem in Connecticut. The Connecticut Witch Trials The Connecticut Witch Trials began in 1647... Read more
Spooky season rolls on and we have another interesting topic to explore. I’ve already talked about the history of the origins of Friday the 13th. We will continue our celebration of the Halloween season with the next eerie image – the black cat. My wife loves black cats – she grew up with a pair of them. Even though we have a ginger cat now, she is constantly looking out for a black cat to adopt. While some people love... Read more
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