Featured Limiting Access: Flickr and Archiving Our Children’s Lives I’ve been pretty open about sharing our lives online. I regularly post photos on flickr, videos on vimeo, post updates to twitter and facebook and even blog here (on this blog and our family blog “Weird Fishes”) and there about what’s going on with our family. But It’
Featured (Untitled) This is an extended version of what I preached on Sunday morning November 1, 2009 Last week we began a new set of conversations, where we are exploring what Im referring to as, in keeping with other Quakers and Anabaptists, the Disciples prayer. This stresses the point that
Featured Mission and the Disciple’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) Here is the text from my sermon this morning. How many of you have prayed this prayer before (at least once)? How many of you pray it often? What has been your experience with the prayer? My hope is that we can renew our interest, gain an interest or learn
Featured Interventions: The Final Intervention is Also the First (Luke 24:1-7) This is the text from my sermon last week. Compost: What do you notice about compost? What does it do? Observe the compost — what can you tell from it. Is it at all like resurrection, in what ways, how is it different? What I want to stress this morning is
Blog Entries Resources for Studying the Disciple’s Prayer (Matthew 6 and Luke 11) This Sunday morning we are beginning a series of discussions around the Disciple’s Prayer in Matt. 6-913 and Luke 11:1-4. The Our Father (Catholic) or Lord’s Prayer (Protestant) is also known among Quakers, and Anabaptists as the Disciple’s prayer, that is, it is the disciples who
Featured My choices for the Quintessential ‘It’s Alright Ma’ Dylan Playlist The other day I got a message from a friend and former professor of mine from our Malone days, John David Geib, who is in the middle of facilitating a class on all-things Dylan. He’s calling the class, “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m only Bleeding) Deconstructing The Song
Featured Interventions: The Drawing of A Sword, the Healing of an Ear While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man? When those who were
Blog Entries Simone Weil on Idolatry I’m sitting with this one for awhile: Idolatry comes from the fact that, while thirsting for absolute good, we do not possess the power of supernatural attention and we have not the patience to allow it to develop (Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace 53). What helps you, if anything
Blog Entries Are We Too Sleeping? Presence in Chaos, Hospitality Amidst Hostility Last week as I was working through Luke 22 I was struck by what seemed to be almost an off-hand comment I read in Joel Green’s commentary about the garden scene with Jesus and the disciples. He reads the interaction in the garden, the contrast between Jesus’ own struggling
Blog Entries Podcasts I’m Enjoying Currently Here’s a list of some of the podcasts I enjoy (or at least enjoy in theory – when I take time to listen!). * Homebrewed Christianity * NPR: All Songs Considered * NPR: Live Concerts * This American Life * RocketBoom * Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell) * Camas Friends Podcast (wink wink) * The Ooze.TV
Green Michael Pollan’s NY Times Food Rules Michael Pollan of the “In Defense of Food” fame has compiled a list of 20 do’s and don’ts for food on the NY Times. It’s not only a great list with some provocative thoughts, but it’s also just kind of fun to flip through. Here are
Church in Mission Unexpected Visitors Things have been going well at my new job as pastor. I’m enjoying the work and I’m enjoying the steep learning curve that comes along with it. Things have been by-and-large steady, no major crises or anything like that which has been a really good way to start
Featured Interventions: Jesus and the New Family (Pt 2) This is my reflections on Luke 14:25-35 from September 20th, 2009 and is in two parts, both work independently from one another. Part one has been published here. It was originally titled: Interventions: Discipleship and the Disavowal of all that Obstructs This part about hating families is at least
Featured Interventions: Discipleship in a Permissive Culture (Pt 1) This is my reflections on Luke 14:25-35 from September 20th, 2009 and is in two parts, both work independently from one another. Part two has been published here. It was originally titled: Interventions: Discipleship and the Disavowal of all that Obstructs Reversal of The Sayings: Discipleship in a Permissive
The Theological Simone Weil: Gravity and Grace I’m still (slowly) reading through Simone Weil’s book “Gravity and Grace” for part of my daily time of reflection. Here are a couple great quotes I’ve recently come across dealing with obedience and caring for others. We should do only those righteous actions which we cannot stop
Blog Entries Alyosha the Pot by Leo Tolstoy This morning I read Alyosha the Pot, a very short story by Leo Tolstoy. If you’ve got 15 minutes I encourage to take a break, jump over to google books and read the story. It’s beautiful and heart breaking, and would be great to discuss. I won’t
Blog Entries Barth, the Task of Theology, and some Queries I came across this quote in my reading of Vail Palmer’s manuscript on Friends, God and the Bible this morning. It’s Barth cautioning what we carry to the biblical text beforehand, it’s also encouragement to look for the encounter, or what I’ve been referring to as
Featured One (Growing) Perspective on Evangelicalism and Politics I was recently asked why as an Evangelical I don’t follow the standard issue Evangelical party platform, here’s how I start to answer that question. Heated political rhetoric comes and goes in waves. Currently in the United States, we’re riding a tidal wave named “Health Care Reform.
Featured Interventions: The Clock of the Kingdom (or Learning to Tell and Understand Time) Reflections from Luke 12:54-59; 13:6-21 September 13, 2009 Intro. We have come a long way in our journey of encounters and interventions through Luke. If you have missed some of our previous discussions I invite you to check out our blog (check out the teaching page) or download
Featured Celebration of Quakerism and Ben Pink Dandelion I’m not going to make a habit out of announcing events that Pendle Hill or other organizations do, but I will tell you about the ones I think you should know about, or the ones I would attend if I could. This is no exception. Ben Pink Dandelion is
Featured Learning How to Tell Time and Quaker Process I’m enjoying the process of Reading and reflecting on Scripture weekly as I prepare my reflections for our Sunday. This week we’re looking at Luke 12:54-65; 13:6-21. These passages are some of Jesus’ challenges, actions and stories around re-orienting time. They also seem to be good
Blog Entries Art Simon and Bread For the World Event In Portland I’m planning on attending the Bread for the World event tomorrow morning. If any of you are in the area and care to join here’s the information from Bread.org: Bread for the World In Portland: Reflections on Building the Movement to End Hunger Rev. Art Simon, the
Featured Interventions: The Real Distance of Our Neighbors (Luke 10:25-37) For Sunday morning September 6 we covered the parable of the Good Samaritan. We did things a little differently this morning. At the beginning of the service we watched the short film from Deidox called Robert (See my review here). Then after singing and prayers, I read the queries for
Blog Entries In (One) Top 100 Church Blogs List So it appears as though someone has paid off this guy named Kent Schaffer to put my blog on his list of the top 100 church blogs! But whatever the case may be it’s really cool that people still find this blog worth visiting. Things have been slow here
The Cultural Bob Dylan and the BLACK CROSS (HEZEKIAH JONES) I was listening to some Bob Dylan the other day when I ran across his version of Black Cross, a poem by Joseph Newman in 1948. I jumped out at me most likely because I’m currently reflecting on the Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. This poem/song is
