Today our Pentecostal series continues with a guest post from Susan Smartt Cook. You may remember her wonderful prose from our Advent series last winter. Susan is a midwife, a wife, the mother to two fabulous dogs and a friend to many in Edmond, OK. She blogs about the question, “What does living in the Spirit …
spirituality
Spiritual Book Club
Do you know the website Spiritual Book Club? Check out this site to meet some new bloggers and spiritual thinkers as well as great book recommendations. Several months ago they contacted me for an interview as they are seeking to draw together a diverse collection of people of faith who are actively writing on the web. I …
Faith and Film: Some Must Sees
I’m always on a quest to find God in places that are outside the church. Spirituality can happen anywhere, I feel– in conversations over coffee, while listening to music or even at the theater. We just have to have our eyes open! I love watching and going to the movies. Even besides the excuse to …
Why do you do this work?
Over the course of our travels and many meetings with Feed the Children staff, partners and other NGO leaders there is one question I find myself asking these folks over and over: “Why do you do this work?” The answers I have gotten from Africans and expats alike have varied but the heart of all …
The Spirituality of International Travel
Often times in the church, we think of spiritual disciplines as a practice which we can qualify as holy action. Practices like praying, reading scripture, doing works of charity and the like are often the prescriptions for spiritual growth. But Barbara Brown Taylor in her book, Altar in the World (which we at Washington Plaza …
I’m Spiritual but Not Religious
I’m Spiritual but Not Religious: James 1:17-27 Today’s excuse in our “Excuses” series is among the most commonly cited why people don’t come to church. I’ve heard countless versions of it during my tenure as Pastor at Washington Plaza, even. “Pastor, I don’t think I need to come to church. I’d rather commute with God by watching the …
The Suffering of Jesus Means What?
As our series of “Sermons by Request” continues, I had an opportunity this week to explore Isaiah 53:1-6 and do some theological reflection of my own on theories of atonement. Thanks for reading. I can remember the last time that I sought to directly evangelize a person to Christianity– I was 20 years old and serving …
Living in Interfaith Land
The first time I heard the phrase “God is too big for any one religion” I was in seminary. This statement was found on a bumper sticker on my roommate’s car. I looked at it every morning when I walked out of the house to go to school. I was intrigued, but confused. Growing up with a …
God Calls You to See What Others Don’t
God Calls You: to See What Others Don’t I Samuel 3:1-10; Romans 12:1-8 Several years ago while participating in the Lewis Fellows Young Clergy Leadership program, our group of 30 pastors gathered in Atlanta, Georgia for 3 days of workshops. One afternoon, our discussion sessions suspended and we were all encouraged to walk from our …
God’s Calling to Take Care of Yourself
God Calls You to Take Care of Yourself I Corinthians 6:11-20 Today we begin a series of messages in this season of Epiphany all about God’s calling to us. It’s the time of year that the Christian calendar asks us to do some consideration again about this life of faith that we’ve committed to live …
It’s Time to Grow Up
Grow Up! Hebrews 5:12-6:3 In the lectionary cycle, we are reaching the end of the time of year that is named “ordinary time.” Next week, we will celebrate a service of remembrance of Thanksgiving and then the following Sunday, November 27th will begin Advent. (Hard to believe we are at Advent again, isn’t it?) Though …
