REI voluntarily audits its practices every year to measure their proficiency in areas of “Community”, “Sustainable Operations”, and “Workplace”. They call this Stewardship. As a co-op, REI is accountable to more than just ‘shareholders’. Each major category has an overall goal (under “Workplace” REI states a goal of being “a nationally recognized top employer”). You can read the 2010 audit right here. I’m an REI … Continue reading How Non-Churches do Stewardship
Kindness. It is the best calling card of The Church. Of all the commandments that Jesus gives us, ‘going and doing likewise’ in terms of showing mercy, has to be near the top. It is a virtue in and of itself. Ideally, the Christian needs no other motivation to show mercy than Jesus commanded it. Thanks be to God there are other good reasons to … Continue reading Learning to Love My Loony-bin Neighbors
My five favorite items of the past week and why I like them: My Faith: A reluctant churchgoer ‘gets the Holy Ghost’. John Blake returns to the church of his upbringing, where people “shouted, wept and fainted,” and where his Aunt Sylvia found strength to raise him. Casualty Call: Reflections on Good Friday. Joe Carter, a Marine, writes about being a Casualty Assistance Calls Officer, notifying next-of-kin … Continue reading Friday 5: Favorite Posts of Week
We do not lack knowledge. We have the knowledge of both Good and Evil. We have explored the farthest reaches of the knowledge of evil. Can any more gruesome or horrifying act be invented than those gruesome and horrifying acts we already commit? Can war become any more depraved than it already is? Can neglect of the suffering world become any more prevalent? Can complacency … Continue reading Beauty
Note: This series on The Church as it is presented in Acts seeks to: (A) examine the character and praxis of the first church, (B) apply lessons from the first church to the contemporary church and (C) gain a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between discipleship, church life and leadership. This examination is inspired by the many church leaders who espouse the “Acts 2 … Continue reading The Acts 1 Church
My 5 favorite items of the past week and why I like them. My Take: Read the Bible, even if you don’t believe in it, CNN Belief Blog. I love this appreciative take on scripture: how it opens up meaning in other venues of life, how it illuminates the conundrums in life, how it calls us to think for ourselves. Church reaches out after shooting, … Continue reading Friday 5: Favorite Posts
April 22 is an odd day this year. Some have made the link between Good Friday and Earth Day. Some have said ‘Please don’t‘. Complicating matters for me, personally, is the fact that my daughter’s first birthday just happens to be April 22, 2011. We will celebrate A.’s birthday on Saturday. It’s not that Good Friday is a bad time to conserve energy, commit to … Continue reading Because Lent is NOT about Social Justice
My Eastertide children’s message series will be “Why Church?” wherein the purposes and practices of the church are explored and explained. I have a brother and sister that absolutely love Holy Communion. They call it ‘bread time’. As they kneel at the altar, they look up and smile. Their enthusiasm always leads me to give them a big piece. I wish we had bigger cups. … Continue reading Why Church?
I love both Creation stories, and I value their collective introduction to the story of redemption that is the Holy Bible. I think that the Creation vs. Evolution debate totally clouds over the rhythmic, poetic nature of Genesis 1 and the earthy, intimate depiction of YHWH and adam in Genesis 2. I think that the nature of the stories push the ‘how’ question to the … Continue reading Parallelism in Genesis 2-3
The Joy of Teaching I have really begun to flourish in teaching ministry. Much of the credit belongs to engaged students. Also, I am teaching topics that I am interested in (a class on Prayer using Richard Foster’s Prayer and a class on Genesis, which I designed myself). Early on in my ministry, I got pegged as an intellectual, which makes me laugh. I really … Continue reading Trust Me…I Went to Seminary
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