We seek and shelter spiritual refugees, rally health for all who come, and fortify every tender soul with the strength to follow Jesus into a life of world-changing service.
A guest preacher! Dr. Lance Pape, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Brite Divinity School (and spouse of our pastor), says Christianity is not so much about believing the right things, but about what we find beautiful. Amen.
HIS NAME IS JOHN CE-wait, wrong John. My bad, y'all.
Luke 1:57-80, it's Zechariah's turn for an aria in this parental prequel to the nativity. "His name is John" is the least crazy thing this dad has to say about his son. What do your parents say about you?
She's a rebel, she's a saint, she's the salt of the earth, and she's dangerous... Whatshername, Green Day, and Mary the mother of Jesus have more in common than you might think.
Luke 1:26-56 -- a teenaged, unmarried, pregnant girl/woman is the one God chooses to save the whole freakin' world. God's always doing stuff like that. Thanks be to God.
We're on to the gospel of Luke now, for the back story to Jesus's birth. First we meet Elizabeth, and remember her ancestor Hannah, women who were shamed for not conforming to the gendered role of "mother." Could we stop with the shaming, please? Luke 1:1-25.
The Llangernyw Yew: one of the oldest life forms on our planet.
Lifespan: we've all got one. We live as long as we're useful. Jesus, the fig tree, the scribe balancing on one foot, our church -- how long will we last? Mark 12:1-34.
Mark 10:32-52: the Son of Man, the Sons of Zebedee, the Son of Timaeus, the Son of David. And a critical question Jesus asks twice: "What do you want me to do for you?" Not easily answered, at least for me.
Jess kept us moving forward with this exploration of Mark 9:30-50, wherein Jesus predicts that we will all be "salted with fire." Which sounds painful. To which Jess can attest.
We're committed to finishing Mark's gospel before Advent. It's all about Jesus! Imagine that! So we're starting with Mark 7:1-23, wherein Jesus employs potty humor to make his point.
Also, we got a nifty new podcast intro! Thanks to Nathan Berry who uploads these recordings and puts it all together. And thanks to Preston Eastwood for the chords under the intro. If you like his playing, you can hear his whole album on Noisetrade.
(Note from Nathan: Katie is the author of the podcast descriptions.)
Like Jesus, Girolamo Fracastoro had some interesting (and pretty accurate) ideas about cleanliness. Unlike Jesus, Girolamo decided to publish them under the title "Syphilis."
Honestly, we just thought it would be fun to put "Syphilis" and "Jesus" in the same sentence.
In the last of our "Imagining God" series, we deal with the uncomfortable metaphor of God the cuckolded spouse. We've been cheating, and God's feelings are way, way hurt. Hosea 2 and Ephesians 5:21-33.
God knows we have suffered under bad shepherds; God promises to be a Good one. Here's what that might mean for us sheep. Ezekiel 34:1-31, and John 10:1-16.
We don't love being compared to sheep. Baaaaaat there's something comforting about all that wool.
This lament showed up on the Prayer Wall. God can hear that.
We asked Youngster Czar Jess Schell to pray for our students and teachers, staff members and everybody else whose life starts anew when school starts up. Here's what she said. Beautiful, and true. Jess never does anything halfway.
This week marked the #firsttime we met at our new long-term home, Reds Roadhouse in Kennedale. Thanks be to God!
What kind of monarch has an advisory board of homeless, hungry, rejected convicts? I bet you know. And this monarch will eventually get everything he wants.
Exodus 15 lets us imagine God as a warrior who squashes enemies like a bug. But John 18 asks us to imagine God differently: surrendering. Oh, what God would NOT do in order to have us home. Thanks be to God.
In all likelihood God vs. Pharaoh did not look anything like this. But one can dream...