Vincent van Gogh’s Rembrandt, Nouwen’s van Gogh and Carol Berry’s Gift
Twenty or so years ago I read Leonard Sweet’s soulTsunami. Tucked away in that long description of the to-come for the church and religious life was a reference to Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, The Church at Auvers. A framed print greets me every morning as I come to the Office/Study. I could not afford the...
Who Does That?!
Often I take a manuscript into the pulpit. The preached sermon will vary. Below the post will be a link to the preached sermon. Text: Jeremiah 18:1-18 Pastoral Prayer: Lord God, who loves with an everlasting love, there are times where we amaze those around us not for our faithfulness, but for our faithlessness. They...
The Bookkeepers Will Always Be With You . . . But They Don’t Have to Be
Often I take a manuscript into the pulpit. The preached sermon will vary. Below the post will be a link to the preached sermon. Luke 15:1-3, 25-30 Pastoral Prayer: Holy One, we find it hard to believe you will erase for us what we will not erase for others. So, we find ourselves taking up...
Can’t We All Just Get Along? The Church of Us vs. Them: A Conversation with David Fitch
How many times have you read a Facebook/Blog post that insists, “If your pastor didn’t say anything about [most recent social injustice], you need to find a new church?” Maybe you have used this lede in an attempt to raise attention to the latest illustration of failed immigration policy, how racism has gone underground or...
Living in Sin: A Conversation with Jason Micheli
“I forgive you.” We generally think those words follow, “I’m sorry.” The Good News of the Gospel is that God’s, “I forgive you,” comes first. That is how Jason Micheli describes Grace. God’s one-way love. Many couples at one point or another have reached for a book on marriage to help negotiate those difficult periods....
Plundering Egypt: A Conversation on the Passing of Rachel Held Evans
Just two days after Stan Grenz died, David Dockery began his concluding paragraph warning Baptists, specifically Southern Baptists, that Grenz might lead his readers into orthodox inconsistency. Unfortunately, his pietism didn’t translate into evangelical coherene or orthodox consistency. That was fourteen year ago. Reading some of the responses to the death of Rachel Held Evans...
Chains of Grace: A Conversation with Rick Davis
We are all addicts. Amidst a culture bent on positivity, Karsten’s maxim could not be considered good news. He did not back down. Let’s give Karsten his conclusion. When we do we admit that we are all at the same time captive. At some point, these circumstances, addicted and captive, will lead to incarceration. When...
Life In Review or, A Pastor Moves Forward by Looking Back: A Conversation with Scott Scrivner
Five years ago the iconic Mummers Theater, also known as Stage Center, was demolished. Considered a modern architectural marvel, it served an interesting feature for the annual Oklahoma City Arts Festival for years. Then it flooded. Efforts to save the building failed. What eventually takes the now vacated space will be influenced by the experiences...
Seculosity: When Religion Leaves the Building, A Conversation with David Zahl
Are you spiritual but not religious? Maybe you are religious but not spiritual. What do those categories even mean? Are we always going to find ourselves in an Inigo Montoya moment, “You keep using that word . . . “ Religion observers and Christian leaders have for some time been offering explanations for a decline...
Why Makes Justice So Controversial?
Oklahoma incarcerates more people per capita than any other State in the Union – men and women. Legislators work to reform our justice system. The gears turn slowly. Part of the issue turns on how we talk about justice. Last year, a group of Evangelicals, some from my tribe of Southern Baptists, developed what is...
Preaching As Resistance
Many resist preaching, listening to preachers, that is. Preachers may be the worst. I have attended denominational meetings and watched folks get up and leave when the preaching begins. Imagine thinking mundane business to be more interesting than the preacher you may not have heard before. Over the past thirty years, I have read less...
Who Said God Can’t?
A local meteorologist described the recent F-4 tornado in Alabama. We know a thing or two about tornadoes in Oklahoma. The scene of the 24-mile swath cut by the massive tornado brought back memories of what we simply refer to in our area as, The May 3rd Tornado. It was hard to imagine the area...
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