Tag: reflections
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dead gods and the living god
There’s a chapter from a book by Justo Gonzalez that I often come back to called, “Let the Dead Gods Bury Their Dead.” Here’s an excerpt from one of the early paragraphs: Some gods are better dead than alive. Humankind did not lose a great deal when Huitzilopochtli and his cohorts lost their power to…
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pastor and congregation
I sit here writing this reflection with about 5 weeks before my final day at the church, and I don’t know if I’ll ever put this out into the public. But in this moment, I’m pondering, What is the pastor’s relationship to the congregation? And in these final months, I’m ever aware that my time…
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Ignorance, grace, and fruitfulness
One afternoon, after church, I was chatting with a church member who was reflecting on her childhood upbringing at her church. In particular, she recalled with fondness a series of youth revival events called “Jesus Generation” that were held at her church. When she mentioned it, I wasn’t sure if she was punking me. I…
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Lead with love
We recently finished up a sermon series for church on the book of Titus. It wasn’t the easiest book to preach on, but I am pleased with how it turned out. As I was finishing the last sermon, one refrain that I kept going back to “lead with love” as a way to live out…
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A Slow Deconstruction
I’m in the midst of a slow deconstruction and I’m trying to work out how to potentially transition well in both mind and heart. The tricky thing about being an ordained minister is that you take vows. I’ve served in churches before where I’ve disagreed with some aspect of the church’s beliefs or practices and…
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The Love of Reading
Multiple times a week, a thought goes through my head that I’ve never really written down before: “I love that my daughters read.” If you went through my photos, sprinkled throughout you’ll find random photos I take of my kids, fully absorbed in a book. Without exception, every one of those photos was taken by…