ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 13, 2022Today (and then again on Thursday), I will begin teaching a class entitled Breath Prayer. It is based on a book (same name) by Christine Valters Paintner. A breath prayer is sort of what it sounds like. I think most of us are familiar with breathing. There is a rhythm or cadence to our breathing, and alongside the rise and fall, the inhale and the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 11, 2022Today in worship, we are going to be looking at the 12th chapter of Romans. It is a wonderful section, emphasizing the transformed life and what that life looks like both inside the community of faith and outside. Paul writes, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” I was intrigued to learn that the Greek word we translate as “contribute” is
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 10, 2022Have you ever been on the other side of an act of genuine kindness? I’m talking about something a bit more demanding than someone holding the door for you or letting you sneak into the 12 or less checkout line with 18 items. What concerns me are the acts of kindness I did not notice. Even if there are many excellent excuses for why I
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 9, 2022In Paul’s Second Letter to the Church in Corinth, he wrote about a collection, a special offering for the church in Jerusalem. This section of the letter appears to be a fund-raising request made initially by the leadership in Jerusalem. We hear about this request in Galatians 2 where Paul talked about visiting Jerusalem and receiving a blessing for his missionary work to the Gentiles.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 8, 2022If-Then statements are generally unhealthy in religion, even used sometimes in abusive ways. In Proverbs 3, we read the words: “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce…” I love those words, and they make me think about how I try to honor God with everything I am, everything I own and everything I do. There are definitely
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 7, 2022Like many others, I have always been inspired by the words of Romans 3: …since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by God’s grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, I read those words and connect them to the ideas of the 17th century English pastor, Thomas Fuller, who wrote: “He
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 6, 2022In Sunday’s sermon, I got personal. It is not a type of sermon everyone will like, and I’m pretty sure my preaching professor would have scored it poorly as I based it too much on myself. That aside, I shared something in the sermon that probably went by too quickly for some folks. I said: I do not believe God is the source or cause
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 5, 2022Prayer for the Week:You are the Guide too few choose to follow;You are the Friend many do not appreciate;You are the Strength left untapped;You are the Hope discarded along the way;You are the Joy replaced with shallow exuberance;You are the Peace no one seems eager to embrace.Gracious God, you offer us so much, yet we seem content on reaching for the very thing that expects
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 4, 2022I was going back and reading some words from Rachel Held Evans’ book, Searching for Sunday. Like many of you, I miss her even though I never met her in person. Yet her writing style made you feel like a friend, and so often I would find myself allowing a few sentences to go around and around inside my head. Her words unveiled hard truths,