Against the Spirit

This weeks Gospel reading describes the resistance Jesus faced from all sides, and many followers of Jesus can relate. In doing God’s will, they have been kicked out of the church and even silenced by their own families.

Transfiguration Sunday

[Most weeks, I spend my Thursday lunch hour with a handful of other ‘preachers’ for a group called Preaching Peace. We read the Gospel for the week (from the Revised Common Lectionary), and we ask a simple question: “How would we preach this passage for peace this week?” This post comes out of those conversations.] […]

Blue Christmas

[Sunday Advent 3 December 13, 2020, Church of St. Mark & St. Peter] Well, it’s the season of Christmas songs. Every year there’s a discussion of when it is officially permissible to start playing Christmas songs on the radio. For many, it can’t come soon enough. For others, the sound of Mariah Carey’s, “All I want […]

Becoming an Attentive Church

“Attention is the rarest and most pure form of generosity” – Simone Weil When I need to get the attention of a room of restless children, I use a simple strategy. I start speaking more softly. I just love how this draws them in to listen and focuses their attention. I believe the Church is […]

COVID-19 and the Wilderness Journey

The Church is traveling through 40 days between Easter and Ascension. This marks a transitional period for the disciples as Jesus prepared them for their mission as Apostles. We have a unique opportunity this Easter season as we journey through COVID-19. God is drawing us deep into relationship with him and calling us to repentance. 40 […]

Cooperating with Covid-19

Tim Keener, Passion Week 2020 How do pain and suffering draw us into God’s Kingdom? A friend recently sent me this quote, “We must cooperate with life as it is, as it comes.” The thought captivated me for several days. A global pandemic is currently life “as it is.” So, I began asking myself, “how […]

Short-Term Missions meets Spiritual Pilgrimage

Evangelicals don’t use the word “pilgrimage” as a paradigm for religious travel, but “pilgrimage” better describes the process of participants going away to be changed, rather than changing those to whom they go.

Prayers for Living with Illness

Last Sunday I woke up early and before I even opened my eyes, I began praying for the sick. My wife had been dealing with some new health issues and I eventually got up and wrote these prayers for use in worship. I was reminded how anemic our theology of sickness and healing often is. Why […]

Sharing the Gospel through Ashes

Ash Wednesday, Lent, and telling the Gospel Story through Liturgy “These ashes remind us that we all need Jesus.” We passed around a small bowl of ashes to the children and let the children touch them and make observations. We pointed out how the ashes came from something alive but are now just ashes and dust (ashes […]

Are Today’s Trials Pushing the Church Back Together Again?

I had a cool encounter last night at a panel discussion on Christian Unity at the Newman Centre (the Catholic Student Union) at McGill University. During a break, another out-of-place looking guy walked over and introduced himself: “I’m Terrell, and I work as a Parish Vitality Consultant for the Catholic Church.” Surprised, but excited, I […]