A good friend of mine asked me to blog about some of the highlights of a conference I recently attended and how these BIG ideas interface with our denominational context, the Brethren Church, and the life of the community of faith with whom I journey.  So, I shall start my rambling and see where the [...]

With my small group we have been exploring the deep riches of the book of Revelation.  We have been working through Revelation with a companion book by Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of St. John & the Praying Imagination.
This past week, we journeyed through Revelation 4-5.  This section of Revelation masterfully captures the beauty [...]

At yesterday’s Crossing, I did a lot of speaking to the topic of reconciliation.  Immediately following the message, I had conversations with two ladies who have such deep pain in their lives.  One is struggling with what it means to reconcile with an abusive father.  The other is struggling with what it [...]

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Christ.” -John 1:17
The other day I hopped off the exercise bike and was amazed at how tight my upper legs felt.  They were so tight that I began to wonder if I would be able to walk.  The strain of the 15 minutes [...]

Sometimes, my heart breaks at how Christians can be so mean.  Some people claim that we need to get back to the word and understand Scripture better.  They argue that people like me, whom they often call a heretic, need to memorize the Bible better.  Apparently, memorizing Scripture changes everything!
My response to these suggestions is [...]

This was a sermon manuscript from a message I preached on Sunday, December 7, 2008 entitled, “Jesus & Empire”.  I submit it for conversational purposes.
I was looking through the papers recently and came across some sad, sad stories.  In one article a father was shot as he and another father fought over a Nintendo Wii [...]

“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” ~C.S. Lewis, Miracles
“Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.” ~Max Ehrman, [...]

Introductory Remarks
In 1994, Dr. Gregory Boyd authored a book of letters.  These letters were from a father to a son; the son was Greg and the letters were written to his father, the late Edward Boyd.  Greg’s father, a professed atheist, was totally turned off to Christianity.  Abuses and bad experiences in his upbringing had [...]

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about a slew of different things. One of those things I have been pondering a lot is God’s plan for our lives. If you’re like me, it sometimes feels like there isn’t a plan. We get up, go to school/work, come home, eat, [...]

I am a member of the Brethren Church based in Ashland, Ohio.  My blog is affiliated with one of its churches, Park Street Brethren Church.  What follows is an excerpt from a work I presented on an overview of the Brethren take on theology, a review of Brethren sources of authority (views of God, Jesus [...]