As you are all well aware this past weekend a not guilty verdict was handed down to George Zimmerman acquitting him of the murder of Trayvon Martin, the teenage african-american boy he shot last year. Martin had been walking through Zimmerman’s neighborhood wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag
Continue reading →We often speak of God as love, but what do we mean by that? Often “love” is used to mean “don’t take sides,” “remain neutral,” but is this reflective of who God is revealed to be in Jesus? I like James Alison’s response to this question: God’s
Continue reading →Reading Revelation #Sketchnotes, a photo by cwd1978 on Flickr. Here are some sketchnotes I’ve put together as a kind of overview of some of the things I’ve tried to focus on as I was reading, studying and preaching through this difficult book. You can find the rest of
Continue reading →The ‘Self-Portrait’ as Remix A couple weeks back I showed you this image [Bob Dylan’s album titled Self-Portrait]. The cover image is one that Dylan himself painted. I couldn’t find any mention of who the cover was supposed to be, but it has a certain resemblance to Pablo
Continue reading →Making Heads and Hands of the Mark of the Beast If there is one aspect of Revelation that has been overused, abused and fallen prey to our constant temptation to make John’s first century letter a document that predicts the future it has to be the mark of the
Continue reading →Image from hellojenuine. “But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.” (Revelation 12:11) The work of the People One of the signs of a true artist
Continue reading →Ever More Precise Let’s begin with a poem called Claritas by Denise Levertov: The All-Day bird, the artist, whitethroated sparrow, striving in hope and good faith to make his notes ever more precise, closer to what he knows. I love this line: Striving in hope and good faith to
Continue reading →This is the message I shared at Camas Friends on Revelation 5. [Painting by Francisco de Zurbarán — “Agnus Dei”] Fear, Desire for control and Violence are some of the main qualities that tend to show themselves when our lives feel like they are spinning out of control. When we first
Continue reading →The Lampstands in the Darkness This past week the American consciousness has been tilted towards the East Coast. Every news source, every line posted to social media, and many of the prayers offered up have been on behalf of those who were injured, killed and/or traumatized on Monday in
Continue reading →Bafflement During the retreat I was on last weekend with other young leaders led by Parker Palmer and Marcy Jackson, Parker mentioned that he never writes books about things he knows, he only writes on things that baffle him. You know the difference? You never google the stuff you are
Continue reading →Unless we are dead we are on a journey. Our journeys might be more inward focused at the moment, they might be more about outward changes, but either way life is filled with journeys. But the best kind of journeys are the ones that cost us something: where risk is
Continue reading →This is the message I gave on Palm Sunday this year at Camas Friends. A dinner party When I look at this text I see a very unusual and meaningful dinner party. It is nothing like a dinner party at the White House, or what we might find on Downton
Continue reading →