This is an excerpt from a sermon preached on October 7, 2018. Job 1-2:1-10 While the question of why people suffer is at the heart of Job, there is another question I’ve been thinking about as I read the first two chapters of Job this week. I’ve been thinking about this question because our…
We gather for World Communion Sunday in a world where women face restrictions to their freedom and threats to their bodies. Sexual intimidation and assault—against all genders—is used as a weapon of war and a means of establishing power. Survivors of sexual assault who dare to report are too often disbelieved, blamed for the “incident,”…
I am inclined to believe the allegations of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez against Brett Kavanaugh. Ultimately, though, I do not know what happened between Kavanaugh and these women, so I can’t speak about him or these incidents with any authority. What I do know for certain is that much of the rhetoric…
It has been a whirlwind summer and I have sorely neglected this blog. So this post is a bit of a liturgy catch-up. Here are a few links related to this coming Sunday’s Lectionary scriptures, and below that are some worship pieces I’ve written and used over the summer months. Remember that much of my…
Ten years ago today, I was ordained as a pastor in Mennonite Church USA. It’s an odd kind of anniversary—one that feels like it should be celebrated somehow, but one for which there are no set celebration models. So I’ve spent my day being a pastor—answering email, writing a sermon, making phone calls, visiting a…
Denial is My Spiritual Practice. (And Other Failures of Faith) by Rachel G. Hackenberg and Martha Spong. Church Publishing, New York. I received my “advance reader’s copy” of Denial is My Spiritual Practice about a week after it was available for purchase. Which is bad in the sense that I couldn’t get this review done before…
Hello friends. You might have noticed that it is Holy Week. And I’m a pastor. So not a lot of blogging going on right now. But in the past, I have written stuff that pertains to this particular season. I thought I’d just share a quick reminder about how to find it: You can go…
I read this week about a family gathered around a table for a nice Thanksgiving meal. Things were going well until Uncle Larry said, “Hey, Steve, you need to pay me back that $200 I loaned you last year.” And Steve said, “I don’t have the money to pay you back, Uncle Larry.” And Uncle…
This prayer is based on Isaiah 55. God, we are thirsty and you call us to your waters. But sometimes we try to slake our thirst from other sources. Forgive us when we turn away from the living water that you offer. God, we are hungry and you offer us bread without cost. But sometimes…
Matthew 26:6-13 Lent is the time in the church year when we move toward the cross and, ultimately, to Easter. Lent is 40 days (not counting Sundays) of preparation for the holy celebration. Days to, perhaps, give up something in your life that is getting in the way of your relationship with God. Days to,…
On this feast day of the Presentation, here is an excerpt from a sermon I preached several years ago on Luke 2:22-38. Do you see that old man, sitting in the corner? He’s easy to miss. Shuffles into the temple most every day. Shrunken, bent with age. Wandering awkwardly among the crowds until the weariness…
On Saturday, January 13, at 8:07 a.m., residents and tourists in Hawaii got text messages on their phones and alerts interrupting their television programs telling them there was a “ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii.” “This is not a drill” the messages warned. Alerts like this would be frightening at any time, but considering the…
