reimaginings

Some things just don’t make sense - factually, yet can be true none-the-less.  For instance:
I am bad, but I am good.  The message of grace.  Declared good, despite the facts.  Through faith alone.
The OT promised a return of Elijah.  John the Baptist was thought to be him, but said he was not.  Jesus was asked if John the […]

Our text group meets every Wednesday evening.  We would like to get a larger, more diverse input on our text each week before it is preached.  You are invited! 
I’ll give the text.  Read it.  Meditate on it. Study it.  Whatever.  Just write your thoughts on all or part of the text -either from what you […]

Probably many of you have read Sally Morgenthaler’s book, Worship Evangelism.  It was a thought-provoking study on how our Christian worship can reach the heart of unbelievers. 
Then, recently, Sally recanted. (www.allelon.org/articles/article.cfm?id=402).  All should read her re-engineered view of worship.  She is a brave soul and a blessing to all of us.  It takes guts to […]

While attending a recent conference I frequently heard various speakers express their concern for Emergent Church leaders who seemed to have denied the gospel.  They quoted various authors to give evidence to their accusations. 
The gospel was defined as the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that brought brings grace to all who believe and receive […]

Signs of Emergence, by Kester Brewin:
Every once in a while an author emerges from the ranks of Christianity with a gift for not only capturing and articulating the issues of the age, but also in presenting a clear path for successfully negotiating those issues. Brewin accomplishes this masterfully.
This book re-imagines ‘church’ in the […]

Is there room for ‘awe’ in a God who creates through evolution? 
I have long wrestled with the biblical creation story and the evidences of science for evolution.  Francis Collins, the author of The Language of God, addresses this conflict in a fresh manner - shifting through all the hype and name calling on both sides […]

Wow. What a bombshell! 
Or was it? 
What was it about Mother Teresa that compelled us to build her into more than your usual saint?  Are we so desperate for modern-day spiritual heroes - evidences for the life transforming power of God - that we permit ourselves to filter out reality?
Are there any ’saints’ other than ourselves?  Mother […]

This books hurts, unassumingly at first, of course.  But then zero’s in on those areas of the Christian life we love to ignore.
 
Chapter one addresses the obvious first question - why a book about justice, particularly in the burbs?  Justice, according to the authors, simply means ‘acting right in our relationships’ - living by […]

We pray, we plead, we recommit our lives, we make restitution, we do loving things for our ex-wives and dysfunctional bosses, we ask for forgiveness from our children, and we give our time - money - and effort to help the poor - making sure that we have done everything ‘we’ can possibly do to move God […]

I’ve often wrestled with the observation that God’s ‘obvious’ interventions in our world are few and far apart.
Chapter one of Matthew’s gospel illustrates this point.  There is no evidence, and no reason to assume otherwise, for God ever speaking to Joseph prior to the event of Mary’s pregnancy.  Even then, God continued to allow Joseph to deal with his […]