Harrowing Of Hell

Ambiguity Capacity as a Kingdom of God Experience

I’m reading a book right now called Nonsense by Jamie Holmes, and in it he makes a claim that grabbed my attention. He wrote: “As uncertainties add up in the world around us, they accelerate our desire for certainty.” When I read this, I was reminded of a sermon I preached on Easter day 2014:

The Body

HAPPY EASTER! Here we are outside under a ceiling of sky, in the fresh air, together praising God. It’s like a picnic, sort of… in that we have to lug our own chairs out here. Hopefully yours isn’t sinking into the mulch. Seeing you reminds me of the Holy Land. We are a pilgrims’ parish

Hallelujah!

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ tonight, the word that marks this moment is hallelujah. It means praise God, which is sort of odd to say praise God as a way of praising God. The truth is hallelujah is a rather untranslatable word: it is more a guttural affirmation; a mysterious proclamation; a

Time Changes

Good Evening From Leviticus 23:5: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, (in Hebrew between the evenings) shall be a Passover offering to the Lord.” What a difference a day makes. So much happens during Holy Week both in our scripture reading and in our church life, that when we

Jesus’ New Commandment

Good evening Christians, seekers, and friends, I wonder what it would be like for someone who doesn’t really know much about Christianity to come into the Church tonight. At this point, a little over eighty percent of the American populace knows that Easter celebrates Resurrection but what, exactly, this means to those of us who

It’s Okay to Feel What You Feel

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends! How are you doing this first Sunday in Lent? This time I ask this not as a nice segue way into my sermon – be nice to the people Ruth Anne so they’ll want to listen—but because in my experience, in the average Christian year, we seem to really

The Bright Sadness of Lent

I awoke Friday night and there was a brightness in our bedroom. Having grown up in Minnesota I realized quickly that it snowed out. Snow on the ground makes everything bright. As a child I used to love that, since a big snow fall, even in Minnesota, sometimes meant that school was canceled. Certainly, here