Pentecost and the Blasphemy of “America First” “America First” means creation last. “America First” means God last. “America First” means the Spirit last. "America First" is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Worship, Doubt and Ascension Worship without doubt is the posture of idolatry, the faith of an ideology. True worship not only welcomes doubt, it requires doubt.
Revoicing the Psalms: Psalm 2 The God who has died a thousand deaths / will die a thousand more / each time embracing the grave / as one more chance to love. // Revoicing Psalm 2
Revoicing the Psalms: Psalm 1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, who refuse to deny God’s invitation to shalom.
By the Rivers of our Fundamentalist Captivity By the rivers of our fundamentalist captivity we sat down and wept, and wept. And when we could weep no more, tears dried in the sun, we leapt. Preaching the poetry of protest, snarling songs of salvation.
Resurrection, Jesus and Leonard Settling in either knowing or unknowing, resolving the tension of faith and doubt would have been cheap and superficial, regardless of where one landed.
Easter! Too Good to be True? What if the story that scripture tells isn’t a fairy tale… what if instead, all fairy tales are resonating with and hinting at this singular real story that shapes our history? What if we’re created to long for these stories, to recognize them as familiar?
Forsaken by God: Susannah’s Story And then Jesus lifted up his voice. And he prayed my prayer, he prayed the words of the psalm, the words that my people had cried through the centuries, the words that I had cried over and over, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Love, Knowing and the Washing of Feet It’s all about love to the very end. It’s all about a love that brings us to Holy Week. It’s all about the end of love, the telos of love. It’s all about the Lord of love, kneeling before his disciples on Thursday evening, and enthroned on a cross by Friday afternoon.
Hold Fast to the Head Hold fast to the head, and let your ethics flow from that. Stay immersed in the covenant story and your actions will be shaped by it. Don’t need no baggage, don’t need no ticket, just get on board.
Kingdom Fruitfulness: A New Targum This is the word of truth, in a time of such ubiquitous deceit. This is the word of truth, that speaks power and life in the face of repression and death.
Jesus and the Festival of Hope A reflection on Matthew 17:1-9 by Andrew Stephens-Rennie at Christ Church Cathedral’s St.
Romans 12&13 Remixed: A Post-Inauguration Targum Time is up for the oppressive laws of the state, so obey the law of love. Time is up for the empire, so live in the Kingdom.
God on the Loose Memory can trap us. Many of us have memories linked to shame, inadequacy, and pain, like Israel’s memory of their broken covenants and spiritual infidelity, and these can paralyze us in bitterness, self-pity, and self-doubt.
Prayer in Troubled Times We said to ourselves, “We believe in Jesus plus white supremacy; Jesus plus comfortability.” We preached this in churches. We obscured Your teachings; there is no longer any prophet, and there is no one among us who knows how long.