No fear in love
Greetings from Bluffton, Ohio. This week I am the speaker for Spiritual Life Week at Bluffton University which also comes with the perk of getting to hang out with various students, faculty, and staff. The theme for the week, which we chose way back in the summer, is “No fear…
1491
I just completed reading (listening to, audio-book) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann (thanks for the loan Phil H). One of the best things this book does is to question, and more often dismantle, commonly held myths about the Americas and the people who…
Graceful responding
In the last week and a half Columbus Mennonite has been in both The Mennonite and the Mennonite World Review because of our hiring of Mark. In this digital world, stories travel fast on social media and comments become just as publicly accessible as the story itself. The large majority…
Arguing with God
A friend recently quoted the first sentence of James McClendon’s three volume work of systematic theology: “Theology means struggle.” It’s a fitting phrase for this month of exploring difficult passages in the Bible. It’s a good reminder that our faith is not just about comfort and refuge, but about venturing…
Haggling with God
It’s “Difficult Passages” month and the midweek blog is an opportunity to talk not about those difficult biblical passages themselves, but about other passages that help us think about the difficult passages. Last week: Jacob wrestling with God. This week: Abraham haggling with God. Genesis 18:22-33 occurs right after Abraham…
God-wrestlers
Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for…
An open tent
“To you who wakens all who sleep and stirs all those who slumber, who gives speech to those who cannot speak, who frees the captive and upholds the falling, who makes upright those bent down – to you alone we offer thanks.” This morning there are songs and chants of…
A baby and a new front door
For the last half year we have been plodding along in the creation of a new church website, working with the good folks at LightSky who were recommended to us through Central District Conference. Because the church staff has worked on it little by little and watched it slowly take…
This ordinary time
Although we haven’t been following the lectionary readings for Sunday worship this summer, it is worth remembering that this is the season of Ordinary Time. This is the space between Pentecost and Advent in which we are neither immediately anticipating Christ’s birth nor death. Easter has happened. Pentecost has happened….
Social realism
There’s a new ministerium of pastors forming in Columbus to meet monthly to think creatively about various ministry realities, organized by a couple ministers with the Episcopal diocese. Love those Episcopalians. Today over lunch we met at the Columbus Museum of Art and were given a tour through the Modern…
