That Old Time Religion Ain’t Conservative Enough

So my friends lists on Facebook, and on my blogroll, and even on my television (good Lord, do I love Rachel Maddow) are all talking about the same thing this week.
The Conservative Bible Project.
Like Rachel Maddow, like many of my friends when we first emailed this around, I was convinced this had to be satire. [...]

Grace. No Kidding.

Here is a great post about grace and how hard she can be to believe in, from a United Methodist pastor blogging “everyday theology.”
And that, my dears, in the midst of a very busy but very productive week, is my thought for the day.

The Coolest Thing Since the Printing Press

I’m surprised that this didn’t make more of a splash when it came out a month or so ago. The Codex Sinaiticus project is updating and making available online the images and translations of a codex—a 1600-year-old bible, one of the oldest and most complete versions of the Christian Bible ever found.
Why do I think [...]

Beyond Anger

A colleague (thanks, Mark!) sent me a link today about some Catholic Sisters who give one another space to face illness and death with peace and dignity. Note especially this section:
Dr. McCann [who works closely with the sisters] said that the sisters’ religious faith insulated them from existential suffering — the “Why me?” refrain commonly [...]

On being mad at God

Last night I spent a little time with a family and lead a brief prayer service at the close of calling hours for a 27 year old son, fiance, and father of three. There was a lot of pain in that room. That, combined with a discussion at UMCommunities, has me thinking, yet again, about [...]

I’m not the only one who thinks substitution is bunk!

You really should check out this post by Angela on the Radical Love Project. It’s a super-good read on Jesus, attonement, and what is and is not important. Here’s a little teaser:
Jesus didn’t come here to die as payment for anything. I could go on all day about how that makes no sense at all, [...]

Resurrection– not so much the what as the So What?

This comes from thoughts I posted on a discussion board at 7Villages, but I thought I’d post it here. It was framed as a yes/no question, but I think it’s a question that might take months or years or decades or a lifetime to answer. I’m still answering it– if not the initial part, the [...]

Highest Praise

What is the greatest compliment you’ve received?
For me, the highest praise I get is when congregants tell me that my loving spirit is contagious, or even more, when they tell me that they can tell how much I love Jesus. See, I do– love Jesus that is– but it’s not really something I write about [...]

Assurance

I’m running behind, feeling stressed, and uninspired. That means that this morning, more than ever, I needed to spend time sitting in front of my altar listening for the Holy. While this practice of mine draws some raised eyebrows from some of my friends outside the church or from less contemplative circles, I find it [...]

Sticks and stones may break my bones…

… but words– oh the awesome power of words– words can cause me to hate and fear and kill.
Reflecting today about the shooting at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN. A virtual friend of mine, Terry, points out that we often tolerate hateful and violent words by people in the media in our country, [...]