Nina The Octopus
Once upon a time, somewhere miles and miles beneath the surface of the ocean, there lived a young octopus named Nina. Nina spent most of her time alone making strange creations out of rocks and…
Life, Death, and Their Unveiling at Christmas
Christmas rips open facades. It uncovers what lies beneath. Wheat and weeds grow together. Cold and hot water are gushing from the same spring. Joy and suffering bring the same tears. Those that have eyes that…
My Tourism Of Settlements
There is an ease as I stroll Through settlements I visit It feels like home My curiosity is in what I consume The way it tastes when it goes into my body The satisfaction, the…
Identity vs Meaning
Identity and meaning are two different concepts that I have been thinking about lately, especially in how they connect. I have some friends who were raised as Christians. Overtime, as they read and grew they began…
Why Aren’t Old People Suicide Bombers?
In our first day in Bethlehem, Palestinian territory, we met a Palestinian Christian gay man who gave Josh a haircut and introduced us to his mother who only could remember French. He gave us a…
The More You Acknowledge Your Brokenness The More You Can Love
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. I never understood this quote when I first heard it. I got the kind part, but not the battle part. I think most of…
To Not Feel The Need To Change Anyone or Anything
Almost every day I write little notes to myself and tuck them away. They are usually a quick thought running through my head, anecdotes for the solving of all of the world’s problems or things that…
A Sermon On The Holiness Tradition
It’s weird to do a sermon on a tradition. When we speak about tradition it’s normally about the sacred cows that we can’t touch or about the things that we have gotten over and no…
The Good News (Gospel) Is That There Is No More Bad News
Understanding evangelion (Greek word for good news) is critical for understanding Christ and the Kingdom of God. I think it’s time that we admit and separate the idea of gospel/good news from our beliefs of judgment…
A Parable About Two Wordsmiths And Their Mute Father
I wrote this as an attempt to flesh out some of my experience to the drama that unfolded with my most recent series of posts. I’m fascinated at how important we’ve made “beliefs” in our…
Jesus Shows Us The Only Way To God
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one…
On The Affects Of Believing Something Different
I’m wrestling with the idea of the ramifications of my recent post. I admit that I am a blatant and careless at times and get quite a bit of pleasure at watching the ruptures of…
Salvation Can Be Found By Feeding The Poor
My post There Are More Ways To God Than Jesus has gained some attention. As usual, these are contentious issues that bring up a lot of the things that we hold onto and calls them…
There Are More Ways To God than Jesus
One of the signs of a dying belief system is the self-affirming rigidity and exclusion that it promotes. A deeply held belief in evangelical Christianity is that “Jesus is the only way to God and…
On Being Safe
I have realized that I have gone through much of my life not being a safe person for many people. I remember the first time I realized this about myself. I had family visiting from…
A Thanksgiving Prayer
[Picture is one I took in Iceland, it was an unforgettable moment of gratitude and awe that has never left.] Each morning the sun rises We are overwhelmed with what lies ahead We are anxious…
Local Support of Line 9 Shut Down
Just before Christmas, a few women took it upon themselves to shut down Line 9 as an act of resistance against the corporations persistence to overlook their responsibilities towards the land and people they have…
If Tomorrow Takes Care Of Itself, What Good Is Theology?
Upon visiting some friends in Guatemala City at a B&B they are running, this question rang relevant again. Sitting on the rooftop of a city with some of the highest murder rates in the world…
The Spectrum of Meaning
Last night I found myself in a fascinating conversation with friends about the differences between us. It started when they were explaining the romantic notion of a book/story like Into the Wild, or Johnny Cash….
Guise Podcast: exploring male intimate relationships
The last year has been an exploration of vulnerability for me that has competely altered the way I have understood myself and my relationship to others. From our Men’s Vulnerability Group, understanding myself and what…