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?
Physical touch has profound effects on well-being, as shown in studies, yet many feel deprived. This week’s Gospel lesson of the woman healed by touching Jesus’s cloak emphasizes the significance of physical contact. In today’s digital world, there is a growing need to prioritize face-to-face interactions and embrace the healing power of physical touch. … More Healing Touch & Touch-less Faith
On Isaak’s 11th birthday I want to share a lesson he is helping me learn about tough love vs. tender love. A strong person is described as “tough as nails,” which has me thinking about the One who took the nails for me. Those nails couldn’t have pierced the skin of Iron Man, Super Man or the Incredible Hulk. Their bulletproof exterior would have bent the nails in half and kept them from harm. That’s Ford Tough; that’s strength “like a rock.” But that’s not Christlike strength. … More Tender Love is Toughest: Happy Birthday, Isaak!
My kids are learning to play the piano. While we could have had them watch YouTube instruction videos, we signed them up for private lessons. Once a week they sit side by side at the piano, Miss Liz “taking them by the hand” and tailoring lessons to their skill level and needs, manipulating their fingers, correcting and encouraging, addressing their questions and meeting each student where they are at. This reminds me of Jesus and discipleship. … More Parables and Private Lessons
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
This morning I came upon a friendly painted turtle on the road and pulled over to help him to safety. Yesterday I joined several other cars pulled over to watch another more daring Good Samaritan helping a large and intimidating snapping turtle across the highway to his wetland destination. What is it about turtles that evoke such concern and compassion? I think we see something of ourselves in these creatures. … More The Turtle’s Shell
We just wrapped up our “Imago Vita” series on the role of imagination in spiritual transformation. In this post I share my “imago vita” and spiritual journey and yearning to become a more joyful and carefree sower of God’s Word. I have found inspiration in an AI-generated Van Gogh-style portrait of a happy sower, which symbolizes my desire to be a more joyful worker in God’s field. … More The Happy Sower
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 walked into the travel agency and nervously picked through the brochures on the wall, each advertising exotic destinations filled with sun and ocean-scapes. We were teenagers dreaming and scheming about our senior trip that spring. After much deliberation and bargaining with our parents, me and my five best friends were preparing for a spring break cruise together in the Caribbean. … More Jesus, Travel Agent
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
A dark shadow is threatening to block out the light of Jesus’ ethic and Kingdom vision for many today. This eclipse has been slowly ongoing for years, and the shadow grows ever larger by the hour. Today, some find themselves in the path of totality, where this lunar / lunatic figure now seems to block out 100% of Jesus-shaped light and reason and truth. … More Beware the Eclipse of the Son
This week’s psalm lands us on the Divine Counselor’s couch, and we pour out our soul in his presence. If you think you’re having a bad day, sit in on the psalmist’s session and count your blessings! Some days we study and learn from Scripture. Other days we curl up in the fetal position and groan along with Scripture. … More On the Divine Therapist’s Couch
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
With historical imagination and pastoral sensitivity, my new short story probes the inner turmoil of one of history’s most tragic figures: Judas Iscariot. What drew him to Jesus? What led to his infamous betrayal? Most importantly, does his death by suicide place him outside of God’s grace or more directly in his embrace? Find out Sunday at 5pm! … More Love Cut the Rope: The Tragic Tale of Judas
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
My new short story tells the story of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27, imagining Paul, a lone Jew on a ship of superstitious pagans, each telling stories from their sacred texts. As the storm outside grows more perilous, and the shipmates begin to panic, Paul remains calm and brings spiritual leadership to these doomed “souls in chains.” … More New Book Debut this Sunday
Jeremy Berg 