The High Cost of Reconciliation with Joy Moore | BONUS

https://youtu.be/eV5CuE-t8-s https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-36u6d-15f5c52 In this bonus episode, I revisit an interview with Joy Moore, a professor of biblical preaching at Luther Seminary. We discussed reconciliation amid societal divisions. Moore shares stories illustrating the challenges of reconciliation and stresses the importance of finding common ground across racial divides. referencing instances like Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis working...

A Knock at the Door

When I think about the recent horrific shooting of young Ralph Yarl, a young black man who went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings and was shot by an elderly white man, my thoughts go to a similar experience I went through growing up and also to my late elderly father. Let me...

Eugene Peterson and the Age of Shibboleths

I don't know when it happened, but I've become a walking, talking shibboleth. A shibboleth is a word or custom that signifies who is in the ingroup and who is in the outgroup.  Think of it as an old fashioned version of virtue signaling. Now, I didn't personally become a shibboleth, but the fact that...

God Mend Thy Every Flaw

One of the ironic things about me is that two of my favorite holidays are civil and not religious: Independence Day and Thanksgiving.  In the circles that I run in, those two holidays are also the most fraught because of America's ....complex history when it comes to the treatment of African Americans and Native Americans....

Sermon: That’s Me In the Corner

Galatians 1:13-17; 2:15-21 and Luke 18:9-14 Sixth Sunday of Easter Losing My Religion Sermon Series May 21, 2016 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN Click here to listen to the audio. It’s been about two years since our congregation voted to become an Open and Affirming congregation, meaning that we openly welcome Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and...

Sermon: Trouble In Lake Wobegon

“Trouble in Lake Wobegone” Luke 10:25-37 and Romans 14:1-18 Seventh  Sunday After Pentecost July 10, 2016 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN Listen to the Sermon.   It could have been me. That is what I thought early Thursday morning, as I groggily woke and checked Facebook.  There were some news reports of a police shooting...

An Anxious Time

I've been wanting to write something about some problems my own denomination is facing, but I've never been able to focus on that.  I think the reason is that my brain is stuffed with anxiety about several issues.  One thing you have to understand about me is that anxiety has long been a part of...

When Does Grace End?

Social media is abuzz in the recent trial that convicted former Stanford student Brock Turner of the rape of a young woman.  What has everyone talking is the fact that the judge gave Turner a six month sentence and he might get out sooner for good behavior. To pour more gasoline on the fire, Turner's...

Repost: Grace and Race

A post from 2013. I sure loves me some Maria Dixon. Dixon is a Methodist and decided to share he thoughts about the whole Paula Deen affair and decided to take Progressive Christians to task for their selective grace: When it comes to discussing race, progressives have little tolerance for intolerance–past or present. We throw...

It’s Been a Privilege

There is one word that has been batted around lately that I would like to see being used less.  That word is "privilege." Actually, what I want to see used less is a more specific application of privilege.  It has been used in issues dealing with race to talk about the invisible ways that whites...