I often flip that line when recruiting students for the honors college (“We are looking for people with not just the smarts, but the hearts as well.”). But as Chris Tilling points out, Christians (and not just Evangelicals) often go too far into the “hearts” side of faith and usually […]
Christianity
95 posts
What does Jesus really mean when he says “whoever is not against us is for us”? This concept comes up in the Gospel reading for this past Sunday, Mark 9:38-40 (Proper 21, Yr. B), and in the parallel in Luke 9:49-50. (Matt. 12:30 and Luke 11:23 have a similar, yet […]
This past year I was asked by Chris Keith to write a chapter on Jesus in the Talmud for The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. Last month I was invited to speak at the 1892 Club at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. They recorded it and have posted […]
Year B – Season after Pentecost Proper 6 (11) (June 17, 2018) Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Readings: 1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13 Psalm 20 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17 Mark 4:26-34 Kingdoms Rise and Kingdoms Fall But We Go On As I was reflecting upon our readings this morning I […]
This is the bones of my sermon from this past weekend (Sunday, June 10, 2018). I shared a few more stories interspersed, but this is the substance of the sermon. Mental health issues are as real as cancer and should be considered as such. I have known far too many Christians […]
Last month we were in Italy for a few days, meeting our daughter who had been studying for the semester in Siena. She is majoring in History, Art History, and Medieval Studies and had reserved for us tickets for the aperitivo at the Vatican Museum. Opening at 7 pm with […]
I saw this pop up on Facebook today. Even St. John Chyrsostom agrees with me, the Church should be a hospital. A place of remission of sins and healing, not a place of palliative care simply to ease our inevitable death.
This year I have been thinking a lot about the fact that the Church should be a place of healing. That means that, if a Christian community is doing their job right, there ought to be a lot of hurting people in it, needing healing, comfort, and love. If we […]
I don’t need Lent. I don’t need to be reminded of my mortality. I don’t need to be reminded of the sinful and wicked workings of this world. I don’t need to be reminded that I am a sinner. I don’t need to be reminded that I am ashes and […]
Many of you know that last year I was the interim rector of an Episcopal parish going through transition. Requiring an interim is one of the better things that the Episcopal church does, and the thoughtful review and reflection process is another. This year I took up a new role […]