The last time I saw my 19-year-old son*, he grumbled at me in the middle of the public library: “Just stop yelling at me all the time. I’m sick of it. I’m finally living my life how I want and you can’t control me!” For the record, I wasn’t yelling at him. I had told…
My upcoming book, Expecting Emmanuel, is now available for pre-order! (You can order it from the publisher, MennoMedia, here, and from Amazon here.) To receive occasional emails about the status of the book, where/when I may be speaking about the book, a potential virtual Advent small group, and other opportunities, please sign up for the…
I haven’t posted much since we started this year’s Narrative Lectionary cycle several weeks ago. So below is a call to worship I wrote for this week, and links to several sermons. Call to Worship for 1 Kings 5:1-5, 8:1-13 (with John 4: 21-24) We are not on the mountain or in Jerusalem. We are…
In preparing to preach on 1 Samuel 16:1-13 this week, I am stopped in my tracks by a line in verse 1: “Fill your horn with oil and set out.” It is such a simple command, yet so demanding, and with so much promise. I’m wondering what it would mean for me to fill my…
This past Sunday I began a 4-week sermon series on Revelation (using the scriptures suggested by Working Preacher). Surprisingly, what I’m discovering as I study for this series is that I LOVE Revelation! The English nerd in me loves the genre of apocalyptic literature: the stunning images, the other-worldly quality, the connections to previous sacred…
*This reflection is taken from the Peace Mennonite 2021 Lenten Devotional When we are kids, we color pictures of a guy sitting up in the branches of a tree. But when we get older, we know that the really important part of the story comes at the end. When this very wealthy tax collector declares…
Here’s a poem I wrote based on the beginning of this week’s Narrative Lectionary reading. (It’s in the Lenten Devotional.) Bad at Math This guy’s a little crazy, don’t you think?This shepherd who told the whole town:“I found my lost sheep”Which is to say,“I lost a sheep”And to say,“I left ninety-nine of my sheep to…
Since the full Lenten devotional is available here, I won’t be posting the entry for each day on my blog. But I thought this reflection on this week’s Narrative Lectionary scripture might be helpful for some of you preachers. At the end of today’s scripture reading, there are two brief, distinct passages. In the first,…
As we prepare to begin Lent next week, I want to share with you all some resources that might be helpful as you plan for spiritual formation and worship. (If, that is, you don’t already have everything planned. Which I know some of you don’t.) I just finished this devotional booklet! It contains daily reflections…
COVID time is a strange time to think about Sabbath. On the one hand, it feels like we’ve been on an imposed Sabbath for about a year now—having events cancelled, isolating, not traveling, shopping less . . . On the other hand, it feels like EVERYTHING is so much work and there’s no rest in…
Spacious Faith 