Life Hurts

This is what happens when we take a legalistic approach to any of Jesus's words and use them as weapons against each other. Believe it or not, the world is very infrequently black and white. Instead, it is a nuanced collection of greys. Ethics and morality are complicated, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise, that tries to make everything easy and clear and summariz-able in a little sound byte, is selling you something.

Don’t You Dare

"We draw lines in the sand all throughout our lives: big lines, little ones, thick lines, thin lines, deep lines shallow lives. Yes, we even draw lines around Jesus, lines that keep “others” out, as if Jesus needed our protection."

Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

We need to listen to the stories of non-white people in our own church when they tell us that our church is not a welcoming place for anyone who isn't of German or Scandinavian descent. We need to listen to the stories of non-white people when they tell us that they experience sanctioned and consistent discrimination and prejudice leveled against them, discrimination that we ourselves are blind to. We need to listen to their frustration and their pain for what it is—hurt and pain.

Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?

I have heard it said that the church is full of hypocrites and liars. And that's exactly true. We gather as a community of faith, bringing our tough questions, our doubts, our fears, our anxieties. We are not perfect people by any stretch of the imagination, and we seriously wonder if God didn't make some cruel mistake in calling us to be disciples. What does the church have to offer that the rest of the broken, messed up world doesn't?

Body and Blood

This is who Jesus is. This is who God is. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life”, that which sustains, provides life for those who have none. And when the question came up, “Just how far are you willing to go for these people, this world, this… nothing good before you?”, Jesus's answer was clear.