Do You Know What I Have Done To You? A Sermon
This sermon was preached at First United Methodist Church, Orange, Texas, on Maundy Thursday 2011. The Scripture is John 13:1-17, 31b-35. The camera pans out, and we see our hero, paralyzed, perhaps strapped to a chair. No escape. The James Bond villain, or perhaps an antagonist from CSI or some other police or mystery drama … Read more
Collect for the First Sunday in Lent
Your Son, O God, fasted in the wilderness forty days, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: grow us in obedience to your Spirit, so by observing discipline we may be truly disciples, and that in our weakness we may know your power to save; through our Brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lent, Ash Wednesday, and Self-Denial
I have pretty high hopes for Lent every year. “This is the year I’ll finally be self-disciplined!” Or, “I will discover a new depth to my prayer life by…praying…all the time.” (Replace praying with “giving up this luxury” or “acting with mercy,” it changes from year to year.) I’ve been reminded in several places by … Read more
#Unco11
We’re on our way to New York for a week. We’ll do some touristy things, not having been to the Big Apple before, but the reason we’re going is for the 2011 Unconference. #unco11 (as it’s known on Twitter) is a gathering of about 70 adults to build IRL community & learn from one another. … Read more
Deserving Death, Mercy, and Good Friday
The religious leaders tell Pilate “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die…” (John 19:7) because Jesus has committed blasphemy. Hearing that read at today’s Good Friday service reminded me of this passage in J R R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Frodo and Gandalf are discussing Gollum, who … Read more
An Identity Crisis
Eight years ago today (liturgically speaking) I preached for the first time in “big church”…not a devotional or talk but an actual sermon in the awe-inspiring sanctuary of St Paul’s United Methodist (Houston) on a Sunday morning: Transfiguration Sunday. It holds up, I think, and today seems oddly resonant. In honor of how the Holy … Read more
The Preaching Life: Countercultural
…there is a certain contrary character to all faithful preaching…The words of the sermon will be expressing our culture in need–beloved by God, but not itself God. So the preacher’s life, as well, will have certain countercultural strains to it. Perhaps simply being willing to become a preacher was already a beginning. In any case, … Read more
Courage: Hearn Lecture by Bishop Huie
I had the pleasure this evening of getting to hear Bishop Janice Riggle Huie speak at First UMC Beaumont as a part of the Hearn lecture series. It appears that she spoke this morning to the congregation on “Connection,” and this evening’s reflection on “Courage” focused on the story of Paul, Silas, and Jason in … Read more
Where Does God Happen?
At the top of the list of things Josh wrestles with in his own life is my uneasiness within myself as I relate to other people. Whether it’s because I was raised in a loving-yet-high-expectation environment, mocked throughout my school years for my nerdiness (evidence of which has always been in abundance!), or my own … Read more
Living Theologians!
“Ten living practical theologians who have changed my own faith and life and why you should read them too” would be the subtitle of this post, if Blogger would let me do that… A few caveats on this list: I have read more than one thing by each of these authors. There are some great … Read more
