Relating, Creating, Transforming
Luke 1:39-41; 46-49; 52,53 Let’s get this out of the way from the start. I know that for many, the stories about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth carry with them some pretty strong emotions and nostalgia. For some, this story can be confusing, maddening, and perhaps oppressive—depending on how religion [and your family] treated […]
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In the brilliant sci-fi/fantasy Netflix series Stranger Things the main characters all go through trauma: Joyce loses her son, Will. Jonathan loses his little brother. Eleven/Jane is experimented on, deprived of parental care, tortured, and manipulated psychologically. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas lose their friend and think he’s dead. Will is taken by a creature to […]
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If you haven’t seen the Netflix original show Stranger Things, I highly recommend it. I won’t give a full synopsis here, but even if you are not familiar with it, I think what follows will still be relevant and hopefully meaningful. Let’s talk about friendship. In Stranger Things, friendship takes center stage. It is set […]
Read MoreRomans 13:8-11a Matthew 18:15-20 Sell your crap. Pay your debt. Do what you love. This was the title of Adam Baker’s TED TALK in 2011—the story of how his family moved away from being the “typical” debt-laden U.S. family trapped by the next thing to buy to a family that envisioned freedom from that debt […]
Read MoreMatthew 14:22-33 The Hobbit, a book by JRR Tolkien, begins with this line: “in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” The author Tolkien lets us the reader know that this is not a nasty or unkempt hole, like the lair of a mouse, but rather a cozy place, filled with fine furniture, […]
Read MoreMatthew 5:13-20 We’re about to talk about NaCl. But before we dig into salt, some things to think about: Prior to this, Jesus of Nazareth gave his famous speech called the beatitudes and here we find the Jesus of Matthew’s Gospel continuing with some words you can also find in the Gospels of Mark and […]
Read MoreMatthew 4:12-23 Women fishing in Bangladesh Here’s how this story goes: Jesus just got tested in the wilderness. He then returns to Galilee after his cousin John is arrested for eating too many locusts; or something like that. Then Jesus finds two willing fishermen and begins an adventurous journey with them. This story originates in […]
Read MoreJohn 17:20-26 It happens. A strange letter arrives in the mail, a weird email in my inbox, a random post on my Facebook page. People I don’t know, or I may know of them, but they are certainly not close friends or colleagues. I’m invited to something–a gathering of pastors for prayer; a group of […]
Read MoreRuth 4: Redeeming and Being Redeemed “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” Life of Pi is a novel full of fantasy, philosophy, adventure, religious exploration, and great story-telling. Author Yann Martel finally got Life of Pi published in 2001. Of course, a movie adaptation of the book is now in […]
Read MoreRuth 3:1-18 Fear, Anger, and Sadness: Who Walks with Us? No matter what age we are, or where we are on our journey—I think all of us know what it’s like to be scared, angry, or sad. When I was a kid, I moved a lot. I remember my first day of middle school in […]
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