A shocking, even offensive detail, jumped out as I read the account of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, this time. Why would Jesus ask a blind man to come to him? Wouldn’t it be easier and more considerate for the able-bodied man to go over to the disabled man? Perhaps there’s a deeper spiritual lesson here to ponder. Let’s dig in. … More Blind Obedience
Last week was exhilarating, meaningful and exhausting reaching some 350 people with Kingdom hope! Here’s some highlights from an uplifting week filled with 3 performances, heading back into the classroom, and spreading Kingdom hope as a Happy Sower! … More What a Week!
As someone who struggles with anxiety, I understand the crippling power fear can exercise in our lives. As a pastor and disciple of Jesus, however, I live in a story where faith overcomes fear, and where Christ’s “perfect love drives out all fear” — including in our political engagement. What can the “Got Milk?” ad campaign teach us? Skye Jethani explains in this video. … More Fear Not, Christian!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a hero of mine, on my Mt. Rushmore of Christian influences. His legacy is being hijacked and twisted for political purposes. The Bonhoeffer family has recently spoken up and sent a letter signed by 86 family members to Eric Metaxas saying: “We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is…being distorted and misused…” … More Bonhoeffer’s Family Confronts Eric Metaxas
Pastor Mike Glenn emphasizes the challenges of navigating political discourse within churches during an intense election year. He urges believers to prioritize their relationship with Jesus above politics, reminding them they represent Christ as ambassadors. Ultimately, Glenn argues that the Kingdom of God transcends earthly elections and calls for faithful Christian engagement in societal leadership. … More Pastors and Politics
On this somber anniversary, Rabbi David Wolpe emphasizes the importance of memory in Judaism, particularly in light of historical tragedies. Jewish memory serves as both honor and prophecy. It urges remembrance not only of pain but also of survival and divine presence. A piece published at Dispatch Faith. … More October 7 and the Perils of Memory
I want to commend to you the “Evangelical Confession 2024” as a helpful guide for Christians this election season. It emphasizes allegiance to Jesus over political ideologies while encouraging love, truth, unity, and recognition of every individual’s worth. It outlines Biblical principles that reject fear, division, and manipulation in political discourse, aiming to position the Church as a prophetic witness of God’s reconciliation and love in a divisive world. … More Evangelical Confession 2024
A family I know and love was rattled recently to get a note from someone they considered a longtime friend suggesting that the family was going to hell. The cause for the impending brimstone was not that the family denied the faith, embraced some heresy, or adopted some unrepentant life of immorality. At issue was that the family did not support a presidential candidate.
… More To Hell With the Election (by Russell Moore)
The next two Sundays (7/21 & 7/28) are a case in point.
In place of our regular Sunday service, the next two Sundays we’ll be meeting “on the trail” for all-church Jesus Walks together. Join us 7/21 at Gale Woods Farm and 7/28 at Big Stone Sculpture Gardens. Let nature help preach the sermon! … More July 21 & 28: Church on the Trail
A quote attributed to Cornel West sums up my feelings in this current political season, “I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope.” I skipped watching the national debate, knowing that my social media feeds would be flooded with “highlights.” It turns out I didn’t miss much, and I spent the next several days afterward lamenting, with many others, that these two men were our only choices. … More A Prisoner of Hope
In this 4th of July episode of Theology in the Raw podcast (which was recorded on May 1st), Preston Sprinkle talks with Shane Claiborne about the conflict in Israel-Palestine, student protests on U.S. university campuses, and various things related to patriotism, nationalism, and the gospel. Good food for thought for Christians trying to keep their allegiances straight. … More Should Christians be Patriotic?
Let’s dig into Genesis 3, a text ripe and juicy with deep insights. Humanity, estranged from God after disobeying, feels exposed and fearful, hiding from God. But God seeks them out, asking where they are not for location, but for the state of their souls. They are covered in grace, as God clothes them, revealing His relentless pursuit of His wayward children. … More Evening Breeze in the Garden
Politics are dividing our churches like never before. Preston Sprinkle’s new book reminds us that the first-century church was not an apolitical gathering, where Christians left their Roman politics at the door. It also wasn’t a place where Christians mounted a Roman flag next to—or above—a Christian one. Church was a place where God’s plan for governing the world was revealed, where one could witness what it means to follow the Creator’s design for human flourishing. … More Exiles: The Book We’ve Needed
Today I compare God’s transforming power to a home renovation project, emphasizing the importance of visualization and imagination. Did you know Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones played a pivotal role in the launch of MainStreet? I share how and explore the need for God’s transformative breath to revive and transform souls, and the need for a vivid, colorful vision of God’s desired future for us to enliven dead faith. … More Dry Bones TV Network
I like this image of walking into nature, sauntering in search of Holy Land—our own enchanted forest, a private Holy of Holies by a bubbling brook, a stairway descending from Heaven where we sense God’s angels among us. Like Jacob awakening from his wilderness dream in Gen. 28, we go sauntering in hopes that God will use nature to rouse us from our spiritual slumber and make our trail the gate of heaven. … More Holy Ground
As much as Evangelicals talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus, many of us in practice have more of a personal relationship with the Bible. Does God stand wild and free behind, above, beneath, and around the text, poised to pounce and prod us by the Spirit? Or, like Thomas Jefferson, do we stand over the text, combing it for principles we admire, while denying the presence of the supernatural? … More The Untamed Word
The “truth” has always been a slippery thing, easily manipulated, easily spun, misplaced or lost in the couch cushions of public discourse. The atomic, bone rattling, earth-shaking radioactive Truth Bomb of the ages is that since the incarnation of the Word, all human ideas, arguments, concepts, abstractions, formulas, presentations, editorials, principles, etc. of “truth” must now stand before and buckle its knees in the presence of the Truth Incarnate. … More Truth Bomb
We’re spending a few Sundays exploring the role of imagination in faith, prayer, and spiritual transformation drawing from a teaching series by Greg Boyd that has been very impactful in my life. We kicked things off with this sermon by Greg, and I invite you to watch it if you missed. … More Imagination and Transformation (Greg Boyd)
If I’m being honest, my heart has been condemning me quite a bit lately. My heart desires to honor God by living a life of love and acting in ways worthy of Christ. But I keep falling short. I keep missing the mark. This week’s lectionary text brings us into a section of 1 John that is equal measures reassuring and unsettling. … More Ease Up, My Heart
Last night was a sweet kind of homecoming for me. I was invited back to speak at the church of my childhood, where I was baptized and confirmed and the early seeds of my faith were sown. I brought my two boys along to show them where it all began for me. Here’s what I shared. … More Goodness & Mercy Follows
The Fifth Sunday in Lent reminds us of the necessity of enduring hardships for growth and maturity, both spiritually and in all aspects of life. Just as a diamond forms under pressure, Jesus’ suffering leads to glorification. We are called to embrace present challenges for future joy, allowing God to shape us into immortal diamonds through adversity. … More Crushed Bones into Spiritual Diamonds
Remember the moment on “Little House on the Prairie” when Mary goes blind? Drawing a parallel with the story in Numbers 21 and emphasizing the importance of looking at God with the eyes of faith, Jeremy urges a deeper, all-senses kind of seeing to live faithfully. … More Blind, Now I See
My teacher riffs on one of my favorite Bonhoeffer books – a book that has helped keep me grounded in the fellowship of “cracked eikons” I’m blessed to serve and at the eucharistic table I’m privileged to attend. The third quotation near the bottom is emblazoned on my pastoral soul, my ecclesiological north star. … More Loving the Church That Is (S. McKnight)
This week’s lectionary reflection focuses on Exodus 20:1-17 and Psalm 19, outlining God’s laws and our relationship with them. It discusses different approaches to rules, emphasizing the importance of understanding and following them. Pastor Mike uses the metaphor of car maintenance to illustrate the benefits of adhering to God’s rules and the support they provide during life’s challenges. … More Rules and that New Car Smell
The most important interpretive decision I ever made was to let Jesus be God’s definitive and final Word. He is my north star. He is my hermeneutic. Echoing C. S. Lewis, Jesus guides my reading of Scripture not only because I see Jesus in the text, but because by Jesus I have come to see everything else in a new light. … More Gold, Honey & Jesus
Jeremy L. Berg 