Amid all the smiles and laughter, if you’re grieving this Christmas, it’s OK. Your anguish has a role to play.
Re-imagining Palm Sunday: Jesus – and Pilate – enter Jerusalem
Imagine that on Palm Sunday, both Jesus and Pilate, enter Jerusalem from the same gate. The tension created in this imaginary scene introduces us to the underlying tension of Holy Week. And we must decide which parade we will attend.
Encountering the world: A word to graduates
Dear Graduates, It is possible to live a life other than your own. In other words, you have one life. You can choose to do anything you want and study and learn whatever you want. People, places, things and thoughts…
Looking forward with faith
Faith is awe in the face of mystery. – Rudolf Otto We gazed silently alongside an uncountable amount of people. The oddity was not in the differences of those of us present but in the symmetry of what we all…
Do churches allow space for us to interact with God?
There is no lack of information in a Christian land; something else is lacking, and this is something which the one man cannot directly communicate to the other. Soren Kierkegaard Our job as pastors is to create space for people…
Don’t Push the River
Our guide shouted, “Don’t push the river!” I was white-water rafting (poorly) down the Amazon. With the raft swirling and the water splashing, the guide’s command made about as much sense as choosing what you are supposed to do with…
A Blue Christmas Service to grieve together
Life. Death. Birth. Two years ago I went on a forestry tour. I hated it. It was cold, damp, and painfully forgettable – until the end. The forester came out of his professorial role and said, “The reason why forests…
Here’s to a better tomorrow
By Barrett Owen “Be strong and bold … for it is God who goes ahead of you.” — Moses to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6 I love Moses’ phrase, “God is gone ahead of you.” Rob Bell talks about it in…
I can do more: A lament
By Barrett Owen It’s been a bad month. People are angry. Humans are dying. Cultures are dividing. These are the talking points we have to discuss: Depression is a disease. Ukraine is in turmoil. ISIS just beheaded two American journalists….