These small dry packets contain the raw materials that come alive and reveal their true taste and color when steeped in a hot cup of water. This is an apt metaphor for spiritual formation. … More Steeped: Tea Bag Faith
Thanks for sharing this, Keri. :)
ASCENSION SUNDAY | Luke 24:44-53 One of the difficulties we have in reading and understanding the Bible is that we often unintentionally plug individual passages and key concepts into a controlling story that is foreign to the Bible. This results in making the Bible answer questions it was never interested in addressing. For example, many … More A Bigger Salvation Story
Originally posted on Kingdom Harbor:
When Sarah was a little girl, she loved to dance and twirl barefooted across the soft green grass of her childhood home and feel the soft blades in between her toes. One day she noticed a small solitary yellow dandelion growing up amidst all the green and thought, “How beautiful!”…
Are original, spontaneous prayers the only prayers that come “from the heart”? Why do many Christians look down upon recited or written prayers as inferior? In a recent sermon I mentioned this aversion to “recited prayers” and preference for so-called prayers that come “from the heart.” I think this phenomenon is very new and modern, … More Spontaneous vs. Recited Prayers
As we’re thinking about prayer this week, I’m reposting this scene from my “Father’s Cabin” series detailing my imaginative weekend retreat with Jesus. Enjoy!
This Thursday we will gather in our home for our first HouseChurch gathering of the spring. We will share a meal, fellowship, hear the apostles’ teachings, celebrate the eucharist and pray for Thy Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. The shades will be up and our doors will be unlocked and … More Locked Doors, Deflated Hearts
Why did Peter refuse to let Jesus wash his feet? One possibility is that Peter was embarrassed for Jesus. He didn’t want to see his rabbi, his master, take such a humiliating role. Maybe he was trying to protect Jesus from his own undignified behavior. That is one possibility, but I don’t think it’s the … More Jesus’ Humiliation & Ours (Skye Jethani)
Jesus asked, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has … More Can You Drink the Cup?
This series of sermons and posts is from my CrossRoad sermon series from Lent 2019. The series emphasized that the cross was not just the way Jesus died, but a new pattern for how to live. Followers of Jesus don’t just celebrate the CrossEvent; we embark on the CrossRoad. Links to other posts in the … More CrossRoad 1: Introduction
On his death bed, just before he breathed his last, the Buddha gathered his disciples around him and offered these last words of wisdom: “You are a light unto yourself. Seek not any external refuge. Salvation is found in no other place than yourself.” I’ve been taking the advice of a good friend, and dabbling … More Jesus, Buddha & the Light of Salvation
Perhaps we’ve let the graceless moralism of too many Santa songs taint our view of the One who truly comes to town on Christmas. For the miracle of the incarnation is for the naughty and nice. He’s already made His list and He’s checked it twice, and all are on it until we choose to reject His gift and thereby remove our own name from it. … More Scandalous Incarnation!
Jesus’ mission prioritized the marginalized and neglected people of his day. He didn’t send out his apostles—i.e., “church planters”—saying, “Go ye therefore to the sprawling suburbs and invite the upwardly mobile dual income families with children.” He said, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21). Would you try growing a church with such folks? … More Funding the Jericho Inn: A MainStreet Update
This is an excerpt from a much longer essay I wrote called “Royal Scribes in the King’s Court: Ancient Education & Christian Discipleship” published in a little book of essays called “Life in King Jesus’ Colony” from my doctoral studies. I hail from good Lutheran stock from the Midwest (Minnesota) where we shared … More Political Discipleship in the Christian Colony
When bad things happen in this world, and unjust suffering befalls the innocent, we often jump to the ‘Why’ question first. The disciples lived in a world where it was popular to believe that disease, birth defects, and other forms of suffering were punishment for sin — either the person suffering or his parents. We … More Why, God, Why? Suffering & God’s Glory
“Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on? Walk up the street to a life with meaning.” Jesus was a wise sage, steeped in the ancient wisdom of the Jewish Scriptures, who formed a community of learners who welcomed his message. His message offered a new Way to be human, an alternative Way to … More Walk Up the Street to a New Life
This short essay seeks to answer the question: “Did Jesus act more like a scribe or a prophet (or both)? Martin Hengel concludes his careful exploration of Jesus’ identity stating “Neither the misleading term “rabbi” nor the designation “eschatological prophet,” which is likewise open to misunderstanding, can adequately characterize his activity. Jesus’ “charisma” breaks through the … More ESSAY: Jesus: Scribe, Prophet or Both?
Here’s a snapshot of my current research project I’m finishing up this week. I’m exploring ancient pedagogy and fresh angles on the task of discipleship in the church today. POTLUCKS & POLITICS I hail from good Lutheran stock from the Midwest (Minnesota) where we shared potlucks (with an endless variety of “hot dishes”) in the … More Disciples as Scribes in the Royal Court
The Story of Easter can be told as a story of Three Gardens. Eden was The Garden of Futility — of broken dreams, shattered relationships, the first Adam’s rebellion, and the image of God marred by sin and disobedience. The Garden of Gethsemane was The Garden Decision — of sacrifice, abandonment and suffering, of … More The Garden of New Creation
What if the fig tree Jesus cursed could tell his side of the story? This is an imaginative retelling of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna!” during his last week, and how his fate was strangely intertwined with the fate of that old tree. … More Tale of the Cursed Fig Tree
I tend to be a bit forgetful at times. I’ll walk upstairs to get something but forget what it was when I arrive. I’m still in my 30s but I swear my short-term memory is fading! The obvious solution for this affliction is to write things down, make lists, or plug it into my iPhone calendar. … More The Palms of His Hands
My sermon this past Sunday made a case that the church, by and large, has embraced one cross and avoided the other. The message of the cross must be two-fold: 1) Bowing in humble repentance at the foot of Jesus’ cross where Christ won the victory and where we receive forgiveness of our sins, and … More American Disciples at the Cross – Part 1
If Jesus is the perfect embodiment of Torah, what happens if we insert “Jesus” or “Jesus’ Way” every place we find “Torah” in the Mishnah’s ‘Sayings of the Sages’? I think you’ll find it quite fascinating. … More Jesus Crashes the Mishnah
Isn’t it interesting the early church never developed into anything resembling the rabbinic model of education and organization? Paul was a Pharisee who studied under the great Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem, and yet the style of his teaching and apostolic ministry never resulted in training up Christian rabbis to pass on Jesus’ interpretation of Torah to eager students. Just read Acts and the Epistles and you find nothing rabbinic in shape about early Christian education. … More Jesus, Sages & the Mishnah
“Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” -Jesus My politics actually haven’t changed all that much over the years. When I go to the polls every two or four years to give “caesar” my opinion on how best to run this particular “kingdom of the world” called America, I still … More Church & Politics: A Jesus-Shaped Approach
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