God of Peace, On Veteran’s Day, we pray for all who have served our country on land or sea or air, at home or in far away lands. We pray for the safety of future veterans in active combat zones, and for those in places where violence could rear its ugly head at any time. We pray for those who made it home alive, but for whom life has never been the ...
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(as Idalia makes landfall) Creating God, It’s hard when Your good creation is trying to kill us. It’s hard to reconcile a loving creator with a creation that can, at times, be devastatingly beautiful and then be just plain devastating. We know we are complicit We know we haven’t cared for Your Earth the way You told us to But, to be fair, these natural born killers existed way before any coal engines or smoke stacks ...
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Today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It's as good an excuse as any to do something nice for someone...but is nice enough? Being kind is often confused with being nice. They are not the same thing at all. Niceness is pretty vanilla. It's what polite society expects of us. Kindness goes beyond smiling, perfunctory "please" and "thank yous" and trying not to ruffle any feathers. Nice is inquiring about ...
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There have been many calls (including a New York Times op-ed piece) for churches to cease offering service online because it's time for people "to come back to church." There is so much wrong with this way of thinking, I had to make a list. So here are my ten reasons churches should not give up their online presence. One The most obvious: you don't want to be ableist. In ...
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Christmas means celebrating, but also navigating difficult family relationships. Sometimes, our desire to be "good Christians" may cause us to handle these situations in less-than-healthy ways. To that end, I wanted to clarify the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hntFtBq3bUY If you will be navigating difficult relationships this Christmas, take radically good care of yourself. A few more things to remember: Self-care is not selfish.Other people's happiness is not your ...
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How we view God very much affects our own reading and understanding of holy scripture. https://youtu.be/p8SwQcCEBCQ Learn More About That's Not in the Bible
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We have quite a few new folks here, so I wanted to explain where this online resource of tools and encouragement for your faith journey got its name. It's rooted in my belief that a faith that wrestles with questions will always be stronger than one that never asks any. The title itself comes from the welcome I have given at every worship service I've presided over since I began ...
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Need some guidelines for the year ahead? Here's an A to Z list of things to remember as we dive into a new decade! First, a classic ABC song to get you in the right frame of mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFpIxHLEyh4 And now... Absolve yourself (and others) from guilt and shame. Believe in people (and let them know it). Call out racism and hate. Create beauty. Care for the least of these. Doubt--because ...
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I'm having one of those what-the-hell-God days. I like to believe that I'm pretty good at trusting God. At knowing that even in the darkest times, God is in the midst of it...somewhere. Even when I can't see it or feel it, I can trust that God is there. But then there are days that leave you asking God, "What the hell is up with this?" A bright 30-something light ...
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In beauty guru circles, there is a saying about eyebrows: they're sisters, not twins. Meaning, that your eyebrows are not going to look exactly alike and to try to make them so is futile. Perhaps we should start using that analogy when talking about faith and mental health. Sure, they are related in that one can positively (or negatively) affect the other, but they are not the same thing. Mental health ...
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Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people. Colossians 3:23 (CEB) I have grown up and grown old with Madonna, and I have always been fascinated by her ability to reinvent herself in world that, as a whole, is incredibly resistant to change. I recently ran across a quote from an interview she did with Vanity Fair many moons ago, and Madonna said, “This ...
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Want to level up in your Christian faith, but the idea of a prayer journal or daily Bible study seems daunting? Not big into small groups? Why not try being kind? Not nice, but kind. Being kind is often confused with being nice. They are not the same thing at all. Niceness is pretty vanilla. Kindness goes beyond smiling and being polite and trying not to ruffle any feathers. Nice is inquiring ...
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Recently, I was called upon to submit a statement of faith for a project I'm working on. I've done a number of these over the course of my life and ministry career, but this time I decided to toss out the seminary language and the "key words" I know the powers that be are looking for in a proper Reformed theology faith statement and just say what I believe. Here's what ...
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Dumplin' is one of the latest original movies to hit Netflix. I watched it this weekend, and here are just five of the reasons I love it. Note: all spoilers are thematic. No actual plot points revealed. It centers around the wisdom of Dolly Parton...and its soundtrack is chock full of her music. Dolly and I practice the same kind of Christianity--one that leans hard on faith and loving people (including yourself). When ...
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Friends, Now is the time to put your doubting skills and tendencies to work, and I'm not talking about God. I'm talking about information. When you receive information that just doesn't sound like something a particular person/organization/source would say, don't default to the-whole-world-has-gone-crazy-why-not-them way of thinking. Put on your doubting caps. Recently churches all over a Texas town got a mailer that was ostensibly from a local Presbyterian church urging them to to ...
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Doubting Believer is an online, progressive and inclusive religious community of diverse followers of Christ. Doubting Believers Seek to follow Jesus Christ Believe that everyone is welcome at the table Have lots of questions about how we should live out our faith Do not use religion as a weapon Encourage others in their faith journey Practice the new commandment--to love one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34) Give of ourselves and our resources to help those ...
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The other day at an event (that was in need of some music), I turned my I-tunes playlist over to a stranger, and it made me extremely uncomfortable. I knew my phone was in good hands, but I was nervous about what this person might think if he started perusing my playlists. Would he judge me for the Barry Manilow songs? Would he imagine the reason I have the soundtracks for High ...
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John 9 I always find healing stories in the Bible problematic. It’s not that I don’t believe the stories. It’s not that I don’t believe that Jesus has the power to heal. It’s that it always brings up the question—if Jesus could heal this blind man, then why doesn’t he heal my blind friend…or my mother who is dying of cancer…or my child with cerebral palsey? If Jesus is this great ...
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In my Presbyterian tradition (PCUSA), we talk about being reformed and always reforming. In the United Church of Christ (UCC), they say that God is still speaking. Both statements are ways of communicating that our understanding of who God is and who we are called to be is ever changing and growing. Other traditions may criticize us for implying that God changes or accuse us of "changing God" to fit ...
Read MoreBefore we go any further with this “That’s not in the Bible” series, I think it’s important that we acknowledge that the Bible is not the only thing we misquote. Famous movie tag lines get altered after being told and re-told over and over again. Clint Eastwoord’s Dirty Harry is oft-quoted as saying, “Do you feel lucky, Punk?” was actually, “You’ve got to ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky? Well ...
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