There are a group of women at my church who have met weekly since the second world war. Originally they gathered to sew bandages for the Red Cross. This was back when civilians were as concerned with war as those who had been charged to fight it. Over the years their membership has gained and…
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Like A Whore In Church Isaiah 1.21-31 “How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her – but now murderers!” There’s a reason that Isaiah 1.21-31 doesn’t appear in the Lectionary. When we think of Advent we conjure up in our minds the Chrismon…
Read MoreFriend of the podcast, fellow Princeton alum, and host of the New Persuasive Words podcast, Scott Jones joined Jason for a quick run down unpacking the stained glass language readers have encountered during our daily devotional series “Advent Begins in the Dark,” which you can subscribed to at http://www.adventbeginsinthedark.com.
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Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-28 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, distress among nations, roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear of what is coming upon the world, for the powers will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with…
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Being a pastor is a lot like having a family member who is constantly in the tabloids. I mean— here I am with this public relationship with someone who routinely shocks and outrages a reliable percentage of the population. While I can only guess what kinds of questions relatives of Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein…
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Whenever people gripe to me about my insistence that Advent is a season centered on the second coming of Christ not his first and whenever they tell me they want to “hurry up already and get to the Christmas story,” I think to myself: Have you freaking read it— the Christmas story? I’m not sure…
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It’s tempting to suppose that the New Testament presents us with a choice— a contrast— between two ways. The way of Pilate or the way of Jesus. The way of the kingdoms of this world versus the Kingdom not from this world. The way of the Principalities and Powers against the way of the Prince of Peace. …
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I recently saw Jim Bakker (yes, that Jim Bakker) on TV hawking flood buckets filled with freeze-dried food so that lucky purchases could be prepped for the great and terrible tribulations that will ocassion the End Times. Perhaps when we celebrate this season of the second coming with a theme like Advent Begins in the…
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A nativity is up already in the narthex, strewn with artful straw and friendly beasts, shepherds and the maker of the world, measuring in inches and ounces, laying in a manger. It’s a testament to St. Luke’s skill that we know his story and its characters so well— the dumbfounded, dung-covered shepherds, the angels bearing…
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