Halftime

Today is my 41st birthday - HUZZAH! I do mean that, with all my heart - I'm not worried about age or feeling the least bit nervous about what's coming next. That having been said, one does begin to ponder one's mortality - and so one goes off looking for stuff to make that pondering a bit more fruitful.

According to the Social Security Administration's Life Expectancy Calculator, I have reached the halfway point of my life expectancy today. What follows is a brief imagining of my least favorite part of any college football game: the on-field interview with a coach going into the locker room at halftime.

Sermon Podcast for Ash Wednesday: "Marked In Humility"

Sermon Podcast for Transfiguration Sunday: "Transfigured...And Touched"

An Open Letter to the LGBT Community from Bishop Michael Rinehart

This is worth reposting. No, we in the ELCA do not agree on the issue. But we are agreed that we want to be a place that welcomes all people. Thanks to Bishop Michael Rinehart for this letter.

2015 Books: Purple Cow by Seth Godin

David Hansen suggested a group of us take a read through Seth Godin's book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable. While I wasn't able to keep up with the group discussion online, I did make an attempt at reading Purple Cow last week as part of my efforts to be better about reading/studying professional stuff (and writing about it here as well).

On the whole, I came away unimpressed.

Sermon Podcast for 8 February 2015 - "Ready for the Storm"

Sermon Podcast: "The Sermon on the Mount"

Pop Culture Roundup: Sons of Anarchy (SPOILER WARNING)

I have had a love/fear relationship with the FX series Sons of Anarchy from the very first episode. On the one hand, the storytelling was incredible: complex emotional issues paired with deeply flawed characters and the sketchy morals that come with running illegal guns, drugs, and other contraband, with the addition of a heavily Shakespearean influence, combined to create a series that was addictive and horrifying all at the same time. On the other hand, the unflinching portrayal of the violence of this life, and the consequences of that violence, would lead to many sleepless nights after bingeing on two, three or even four episodes at a time.

Sermon Podcast for November 9, 2014

Sermon for All Saints' Sunday - "Blest Are They"

Reformation Sunday Sermon - Faith, Freedom, and Family

Sermon Podcast - "Be Still - Have Faith - God Will Deliver Us"

Five Days of Thankfulness, Day 2

My sister-in-law tagged me to do the Five Days of Thankfulness thing.  Going to do it each day this week.  I'm not going to tag anyone else - you get to be thankful if you choose, and to express that thankfulness if you choose.  I'm easy-going like that.

Five Days of Thankfulness, Day 1

My sister-in-law called me out on the Five Days of Thankfulness thing on Facebook.  Given that this is the sort of thing I used to do here, it seemed like a good chance to return to blogging a bit more regularly.  So, here goes.

On Sports and Faith and Life and Balance

Bruce Feiler wrote a great article a few weeks ago that my friend Erik Ullestad shared in his weekly "Recommended Reads" email from Elbow Co. (link here)  Take a few minutes and read what Bruce has to say about sports, faith, and families today, and then come back here for just a bit of me pushing back but also heartily endorsing much of what Bruce says.

Sermon Podcast: "Testing the Spirits" - 1st John 4.1-8

"Dancing with Your Real Life, Flesh-and-Blood Neighbor"

An Open Letter to the Democratic National Committee

I get it. It's rough as we approach what could be a disappointing midterm election. Between recurring gun massacres and our national apathy toward violence, an unhealthy obsession with denying whatever President Obama proposes regardless of merit, and the endless assault on a duly passed piece of health care legislation, you're feeling the strain. I am, too.

But your recent emails have gone too far. I'm not a Democrat because I don't like John Boehner - he seems a decent guy who just doesn't see things the way I do. I'm not a Democrat because I want Republicans to lose (okay, maybe Steve King, but I bet there's plenty of Republicans who feel the same way). I'm not a Democrat because I like Nancy Pelosi and President Obama, even though I do. I'm a Democrat because I believe our vision for the future of the country is a good one, and I'm willing to vote for that vision. I vote for ideas and for policies, not for people - and not against them, either.

Sending me an email saying "If we sit this out, these guys win" is not the way to get me to pitch in another $5. Any politics or policy founded in fear is going to fail miserably. Tell me what we're doing FOR the country and I'll support it. I don't have to be afraid of Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan or Scott Walker to believe that their policies will continue to widen the gap between the plutocrats and the rest of us. I know that just by listening to them and using my head. I also know that even when I disagree with people of other parties, it's more than likely they will bring perspective to my own beliefs and help me see things in a different light. Single-party rule is tyranny regardless of which party is ruling.

Enough of the scare emails. Enough of the polarity. Enough of the attempt to target people for defeat. That's the sort of anxiety-riddled jingoism that caters to the lowest common denominator and debases the entire country. Plenty of people are already playing this game and exploiting it to fill their pockets. We have to be better than this. We used to be better than this. Let's be better than this again.

Sermon Podcasts - Ten Commandments, Weeks 1 and 2

Two sermon podcasts just so you know I'm still here!  First, Luther Seminary student Emily Martin preaches a poetic reflection in three parts:



This past Sunday, I was intrigued by Dr. Thomas Long's vision of the Decalogue (another name for the Commandments, from the Latin for "Ten Words") as something to be danced rather than a burden to be borne.



Enjoy, and have a great week!

Festival of Homiletics: Convicted

Like I said: the Moleskine got a workout

I was in Minneapolis last week for the 2014 Festival of Homiletics, which is fancy church-geek speak for "preaching."  Four full days of lectures on preaching and worship services featuring great preachers from a wide array of Protestant churches.  I heard from Walter Brueggeman, Anna Carter Florence, Barbara Brown Taylor, MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Lauren Winner, Otis Moss III, Karoline Lewis, John Bell, and Brian McLaren, and I regrettably had to miss lectures and sermons by M. Craig Barnes and Will Willimon (good news, though - for a small fee you can buy recordings!).  My hand was cramping from all the notes and my Moleskine filled up rapidly.