I don’t know about all of you, but I love Pentecost. This time in the church calendar when we remember the Holy Spirit, our advocate. Sometimes we remember this season by talking about when Peter and the disciples received the spirit and spoke in different languages so that all the Jews visiting from all over […]
Messages
When the Story Goes Silent
Acts 10:44-48While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can […]
Cotton Candy Conversion
Inspired by Acts 8:26-40Let’s just say that the story of Philip and the Eunuch is a cotton candy fairy tale. Unlike every other conversion story ever told, this conversion story is nothing but butterflies and rainbows. Two key ingredients ensure that this is a conversion story with a happy (aka: non-genocidal) ending. The first key […]
A Critical Conversion
Romans 8:5-10Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The […]
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Last Saturday, the question inspiring my sermon study was this:With the big day of resurrection behind us, how do we keep noticing the patterns of birth and resurrection enough to participate in the New Creation? The scripture I intended to answer that question with was this:So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not […]
An Easter Devotion
Holy Days exist as placeholders for intentional spiritual reflection and religious remembering. While they may not always be experienced as such, holy days are days set aside to become curious again, to ask questions again, to feel a sense of aliveness again. These days are opportunities to affirm, deepen and maybe even ditch some of […]
Solving Salvation
Inspired by verses from John 14: 1-4; 5-14John 14: 1-4 (NRSV)“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I […]
Never Barren: Learning from The Land
How many folks do you figure drive up and down Powhaton Road on a regular basis, especially in the winter, thinking that they are driving across a barren wasteland if they think about the terrain they are passing at all. Or perhaps if they think of the landscape, they firmly believe its only value comes […]
The Magic of Misalignments
Inspired by verses from Psalm 22For the past several weeks we have been focusing on the Psalms in worship. I find the Psalms welcoming terrain because relating to them doesn’t require fully understanding their context. Psalms are less about intellectual mastery and much more about emotional solidarity. In their most basic reading, the Psalms exist as blueprints […]
Learning from The Land: The Great Turning
I’ve continued to ponder this idea of resilience. The next teacher to emerge is Pronghorn, who has an immense track record of resilience over many millions of winters. This species who looks for all the world like it belongs on the African savannah is, in fact, most closely related to Giraffes and goes back at […]