The Deep in the Burbs Research Project is, first and foremost, God’s story. That sounds presumptuous, I know. What gives me the right to assume that (a) God has a story, and (b) that I, a finite creature, could know God’s story? I argued earlier that life is story, as...
A common trap for pastors is to substitute sermon preparation for devotional reading. I fall into this trap often. The current sermon I’m working on is from Isaiah 42:1-9. This passage speaks of the one upon whom God will pour the Spirit and through whom God...
I’m beginning to think about my sermon for next week. It will be Advent 3 and the Narrative Lectionary brings us to Isaiah 42:1-9. This is the famous “Suffering Servant” passage that foreshadows Jesus’ ministry of passion. Juliana...
Bible Mania is a twelve-part overview of the Bible that I taught at Grace Lutheran Church on October 11, 2014. I’m uploading the sessions as I get them edited. Here’s session 04: The...
Bible Mania Session 03: Mapping it Out Session 03 maps out the Bible in two ways. First it describes the Bible as a library, or a bookshelf, that contains many different genres of literature. Second, Pastor Steve creates a human map with the audience and introduces...
One of my goals throughout the process of getting a PhD has been to always keep the people in the local congregation in mind. It is painful to see someone’s eyes glaze over when I start to talk. That’s when I realize I’ve slipped into academic-speak....
Love Is What Is by Richard Rohr ((from his daily meditation.)) Sunday, November 23, 2014 The core belief of all the great world religions is that the underlying reality is love. Teilhard de Chardin says that “love is the very physical structure of the universe.”...
