The intersection of faith and doubt is viewed either as a badge of honor for some Christians but for others, doubt has no place.
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The incarnation reveals to us is that while the darkness may seem dark, the Light of Christ always prevails.
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Is it possible to hear someone blushing on a podcast? What is podophobia? Should we listen to people who wear robes on Sunday? These questions and more on the latest episode of Strangely Warmed featuring your’s truly and the one and only Taylor Mertins.
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The saints of the past and us today have flaws. They, we, fell short of what Christ describes as the greatest of the things we are supposed to do. But in Christ loving us as himself, the saints and each of us are made righteous. What once was thought to separate us from the love of G-d is no more and Christ invites us to join him and the saints around His table. Clothed in the righteousness of Christ through our Baptism into His life, death, and resurrection, and not our own self-righteousness, we are declared holy. The greatest commandments, loving “the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” and loving your neighbor is a little less daunting knowing that before we ever attempt to fulfill it, Christ first loved us. Christ fulfilled it for us.
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Much of what we do as followers of Christ is based upon mystery. From the basics of how exactly did Jesus turn water into wine or how the feeding of the 5000 actually happen to the sacraments - Baptism and Communion - there is much that we claim to know but what we think we know pales in comparison to the mystery that still remains.
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What Jesus said to the disciples shapes our lives as followers of Jesus, individually, and as a community. Discipleship means following Jesus with childlike reliance and living a cross-bearing life that resists the power and prestige we grasp for when our own security is in question.
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In a world that is messy and a church that is imperfect, it's easy to let our faith be lost. But that doesn't mean we have to lose God. It means we must consider that perhaps our idealized expectations are wrong.
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Quoting Genesis instead of echoing Deuteronomy, Jesus told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of G-d, G-d’s disruptive reign, will empower those previously without power. Social structures designed to keep people groups in their place will be disrupted. This point is driven home further when Jesus double-down, using children, a segment of the population viewed as property, to illustrate what kind of dependency, reliance on G-d, will be necessary to be apart of the Kingdom building work Jesus has begun in his own ministry.
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Birthday parties, counting to 50, and the Holy Spirit
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“Hey, excuse me, sir, um could you please move so uh I can get a glimpse of Jesus. Yeah, I’m the guy who took more in taxes from you than you needed to pay, yeah don’t worry I’m still holding onto the money, I haven’t spent it all yet. But could you do me a solid and help a brother out?”
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Everyone has a backstory, and for preachers, that backstory sets the stage for preaching.
Everything leading up to Jospeh’s rise was counter to the cultural norms. His rise to Pharaoh’s court forced Joseph to enter into the ““culture of now”” and convince them it was time for a change to prepare themselves for what was about to happen.
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How we earn money is a clear and accurate indicator of our priorities. We might speak out in favor of honest work that others should be doing but do we follow the same prescription in our own businesses? We can earn by following the footsteps of someone else but at some point we have to begin living into the calling G-d has place on our lives because what you are called to will look different than what your mentor has been called to. We can preach about Sabbath and ethical practices but if we are not observing them ourselves our true commitments become more apparent.
Marriage is risky business. Today the two of you are not just saying ‘I do’ to the person standing next to you; you’re also saying ‘I do’ to whomever or whatever that person is going to become- something that is unknown and unseen to the both of you
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The Elephant in the Room according to Taylor Mertins
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Living in unity with one another means that we love one another just as Christ loves us, even if they don’t do things the way we’ve always done them.
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In this episode of Crackers & Grape Juice, Dr. Johanna Hartelius and Dr. Kendall Soulen discuss kinship language, the fullness of God, proper names, true freedom, and what it means to be the church.
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In this episode, Taylor and I discussed my sermon "Words Are Always Necessary" that I contributed to Crackers and Grape Juice’s collection of reflections on Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.
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If violence as a form of justice does not align with Christian scriptures and tradition, along with basic human reasoning and experience, what are Christians to do next?
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More often than not the phrase is used in a cavalier manner. I do not doubt the sincerity of the hymn being sung in worship and prayed corporately or individually. The problem with this phrase arises when it is used without the acknowledgment of the blessings G-d has already given to America.
Hasn’t G-d already blessed America?
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