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
Featured Interventions: (The) Feeding (of) the Twelve? (Luke 9:10-17) From Sunday August 30, 20009 [We used Bagels and Lox as a part of an object lesson during the Sermon, one possible (and tasty) contemporary rendering of loaves and fish.] This morning we are going to look at three ways of reading or understanding this text. a. The Manna Society
Featured Taking Time To Learn About Other’s Experiences of the Light This comes from the Advices and Queries of Britain Yearly Meeting: Take time to learn about other people’s experiences of the Light. Remember the importance of the Bible, the writings of Friends and all writings which reveal the ways of God. As you learn from others, can you in
Featured Being Attentive To the Paths of Intervention (Luke 1-6) We began the study of the Gospel of Luke back at the beginning of July with an eye towards moments when the narrative turns ever so lightly, or sometimes rather abruptly, in a way that leaves a crack or an opening for us, the interpretative and discerning community of Christ,
The Political Views on The Current Political Milieu: McClendon and Bonhoeffer Yesterday, I read through McClendon’s chapter on Bonhoeffer’s life. In the chapter he explores Bonhoeffer’s influences, his theological and spiritual development, and his work with an underground seminary that sought to support and uphold the confessing church in Germany during Hitler’s reign. Finally, as his fellow
Featured Meeting with a Mentor I’ve been slowly working through one of Eugene Peterson’s books on pastoral ministry called “Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness. ” The book is a lot about Peterson’s own journey as a pastor, and how he relates often with Jonah from the Hebrew Bible. Jonah
Blog Entries Simone Weil on Interventions I’ve titled my sermon series on Luke “Interventions” and so was happy to see Simone Weil was (unsurprisingly) way ahead of me. Here she sums up the approach I’ve been taking with the Gospel of Luke. We must always expect things to happen in conformity with the laws
Blog Entries Plan Ahead – Convergent Friends and New Monastics at Pendle Hill Martin Kelley and I will be facilitating a weekend workshop at Pendle Hill this coming May (2010) that explores how tight-knit faith communities, such as convergent Friends, carry on and expand their witness via the web and participatory culture. The dates for the workshop are May 14-16 and there will
Featured Interventions: Poetry on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49) We opened with this video from Peter Rollins. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY8UEaIJAN0&w=425&h=344] [The part from this video that stood out to me and I drew on in the sermon and the poem was towards the end when he talks about
Blog Entries The Cockeyed Poem on the Plain (based on the Sermon on the Plain Lk. 6) Here’s my own take, a remix if you will, of some of the things going on in the Gospel of Luke and Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49). This is a new version of the poem [added august 9th, 7:45pm] This poem is for all people,
Featured Interventions: Feasting with Tyrants and Tax Collectors (Luke 5:27-39) Here is the text I preached from on Sunday 8.2.2009. The reflection is on Luke 5:27-39. You can also subscribe to or download the audio version of the sermon from iTunes (or our Church’s blog). This morning our text raises questions around newness of God’s
Church in Mission Interventions: A Short-Circuit in Mission (Luke 4:14-30) I was unable to post my talk from last Sunday here this week because I’ve been busy at YM but I did post it on the church’s blog and on twitter. If you’ve already seen it, I apologize for the duplication, but I wanted to have it
Blog Entries John Caputo on Cyberspace Far from undermining religious sensibilities, the advanced communication technologies are actually trading in religious goods and thus provide a new space, a cyberspace, for religious imagination. For if, as I have been arguing, religion disturbs our sense of reality and leaves us a little unhinged, if it causes our pre-set
Blog Entries Camas Friends Church Blog I’ve just set up a blog for the church I am pastoring, Camas Friends Church. I will be posting my sermons or “dialogues” as I’ve labelled them there, as well as other information about what we’re up to, etc. My hope is to help foster participation during
The Cultural The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani (A Review) I’m way late to be posting about this book, but I still operate under the “better really late, than even later than that” motto. I was sent “The Divine Commodity” by Skye Jethani, editor of leadership journal, [Powell’s affiliate link embedded] shortly before we packed up all our
Featured Interventions: What Then Shall We Produce? (Luke 3:1-20) Interventions: What Then Should We Do? John the Baptist and Luke 3:1-20 Peace Playhouse This past week was our peace playhouse, which from all the reports I heard, went well. Because of this, and given the text we are in this week, it seems appropriate to spend a few
Blog Entries New Quaker Blogger Book: Writing Cheerfully on the Web Liz Oppenheimer has recently edited a volume of online conversations from a rich variety of Quaker authors and brought them together in “Writing Cheerfully on the Web,” a play on the George Fox’s famous line, “Walking Cheerfully Over the Earth.” Here’s what Quaker Books has to say about
Blog Entries Learning Poetry Like Eugene Peterson A favorite blogger of mine, Fernando Gros, linked to a post of Eugene Peterson quotes the other day that are well worth reading. Peterson is a hero pastor theologian to many of us. Here are three I particularly enjoyed: Children are the best poets up until they get it bred
Featured Luke 1:5-38 Interventions: Birthing the Impossible (Notes from Sunday July 12th) This is what we reflected on together as a community this past The kingdom is for the Little Ones We have two parallel passages today, one with a story of two people “getting on in years” as the text says, alongside two young people not old enough to drive by
Blog Entries Twitter Will Kill You Video Found this today, and it’s pretty hilarious, especially considering that I use twitter frequently myself. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZWLMdGqu8g&hl=en&fs=1&&w=480&h=295]
Blog Entries Adult Second Hour (Worship) Resource On Luke 1 A fellow reader of “gathering in light,” Paul, emailed and asked me if he could the sermon notes and queries from last week for their Adult Second Hour in his meeting and I said, “Of course, that’s why it’s there.” Well, he went the extra mile and abbreviated
