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Title: Seeing in the Dark
Date: Oct 26, 2008
Texts: Deut 34:1-12, Ps 90, I Thess 2:1-8, Matt 22:34-46

It’s the end for Moses. He led Israel out of Egypt and spent the rest of his life wandering in the wilderness. The Lord takes him up the mountain top of Nebo and shows Moses the promised land. Moses [...]

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I could never run for president because I flip-flop when it comes to politics—which shows that I can never be a Decider. My current flip-flop concerns the whole voting issue. I’m usually with Michael Baxter when it comes to voting: “Don’t vote; it only encourages them.” Voting is a noble lie that distracts us from [...]

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Last week my denomination asked me to write a 300 word reflection on “signs of hope for the future.” I don’t know how to think about the future. It seems like a question that encourages the construction of fantasy, thus a distraction from the present. Besides, doesn’t Jesus have something to say about projecting into [...]

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Congregational Prayer
Text: Psalm 99
10.19.08

“The Lord reigns,” says Psalm 99. “Let the nations tremble; God sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.”

Let the nations tremble… God, why should the nations tremble? They tremble, the Psalmist says, because you love justice. In a world of injustice, in a world where peace and forgiveness are scarce, [...]

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Read this post on Karl Barth to see where I took my insights: Exodus 32.
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Title: Images of God
Date: October 11, 2008
Texts: Ex 32:1-14; Ps 106:1-6, 19-23; Phil 4:1-9; Matt 22:1-14

Moses is taking a while up on the mountain. The people of Israel are tired of waiting. They approach Aaron, Moses’ right hand man. “Do something,” [...]

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At some point in my sermon preparation I turn to Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. This time Brevard Childs’ commentary on Exodus pointed me to Barth’s reading of the golden calf incident in Ex 32. I’ve never understood how theology professors assign readings in the Dogmatics and tell their students to skip over the small print [...]

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Herbert McCabe is a theologian that I come back on a monthly (sometimes weekly) basis. In my attempt to learn more about his context, I’ve started reading the writers who formed the radical Catholic journal called “Slant.” Their ranks include names like Terry Eagleton, Brian Wicker, Adrian Cunningham, Martin Redfern, Laurence Bright and Neil Middleton—a [...]

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On September 28th we finally completed our 9 months of waiting and had our first kid, Gryffin (yes, the name is inspired by Gryffindor in Harry Potter, but Gryffin’s are also mythological creatures that you’ll find on old churches because they symbolized the dual nature of Jesus.  A theologian’s dream back story…).  Anyhow, at 2am [...]

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