La versión en español está disponible aquí. Pentecost Sunday prompted me to reflect again in my personal relationship with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. One of my first recollections dealing seriously and painfully with this doctrine happened in the…
The language of the Spirit: the way of love
How do you imagine the Spirit? The creeds speak of God in three persons, and the Spirit is often referenced as such. Some scholars note that the creeds meant something different than what we mean when we use the word…
Jesus is not the same as Christ
A holistic, inclusive, compassionate, justice oriented Christian vision would be adopted by more Christians if more Christians more carefully understood and distinguished between the pre-Easter Jesus and the post-Easter Christ. The appearance stories in the Gospels (probably a late developing…
Eyes wide open
After Sunday’s service, a friend emailed me a confession: He kept his eyes open during Prayers of the People, which I led this week. It was a Lenten prayer about finding beauty in dry places, the hand of God in…
The spiritual practice of creating margin
More rubato for our faith
Does your faith need a little more rubato and a little less strictness? All of us—and most all of creation—are designed in such a way that we have a solid framework of something behind us, just like a soft sofa…
Beyond belief
If I am not growing spiritually, should I sue my pastor for malpractice?
Ouch! The question itself raises a variety of emotions; and not all good ones. I posted this question on Facebook to see what responses I would receive. The origin of this question was somewhat different than how it was posed….
Feeding body and spirit
I was in a hurry to get my 3-year-old daughter home before the backseat whining turned into a full backseat tantrum when I decided to cut through an alley and sneak my way into traffic. In doing so, I noticed…