Many people in the Protestant evangelical world when they hear this word it likely conjures up images of an austere man wearing a funny hat, walking up the center aisle of a cathedral waving a smoking pole. In the background a choir sings in an unknown language. Liturgy is a “Roman Catholic” word in the […]
Imagine this bleak scenario: you find yourself convicted of a terrible crime and sentenced to life in prison. The conditions are terrible: filthy cells, meager food, and no relationships with people you can trust. The longer your sentence goes on, the worse the suffering becomes. The only way you’re leaving will be in a casket,
What a Friend for Sinners Read More »
How do you give emphasis to something when you are writing? Online people write things in ALL CAPS to indicate they are being really serious. Sometimes we are not content to put one exclamation point at the end of a sentence so we put two or three. Others choose to use words like “awesome” or
In a few nights a small crowd will gather at Red Door Church for our annual Ash Wednesday service. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40 day season (not counting Sundays) of preparation leading up to Easter. Every year I’m overwhelmed with the sheer number of potential Lenten themes. As a pastor, my
The Ashes of Our Praise Read More »
The Bible is a surprising book. When I first started reading it in high school, I regularly cocked an eyebrow at the things in it: stories of men and women doing shockingly ugly things— and of a God who loved them anyway. The Big Story of the Bible (and the thousands of smaller stories that
Making God’s House a Home Read More »
Every culture has rituals that seem bizarre to outsiders. Take the White House tradition of pardoning the Thanksgiving Day turkey as just one example of such an American tradition. When we the story of how God made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15, we scratch our heads. Why are these animals cut in half?
Cutting a Covenant Read More »
