Holy Spirit,
You have descended time and time again
both to confuse and elevate language.
Heavenly Father,
May I find joy
in the ordinary, mundane good works…
As Adam left the Garden
With Eve close by his side,
As inward, hearts were hardened,
And eastward, daylight died…
“Do you think we are going to make it?” Every vocation asks this eventually. When husband and wife see beyond the fig leaves that covered all the shame during courtship and early marriage, one asks “Are we going to make it?” When friendship hits that make-or-break moment, one asks, “Is this friendship worth it?” Some vocations…
Read More
when i feel like
i am
less…
Ministry is unimaginable apart from community, not just in a community, but with a community. The rugged individualist, John Wayne, and the celebrity pastor are not models to emulate. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Ministry doesn’t begin isolated in the pastor’s study, but in the heart of the Triune Community. The…
Read More
A long time ago, in old Israel dwelling
There lived a man Jonah, whose story I’m telling.
Now Jonah was special, what they call a prophet,
Who spoke with the Lord, not a person to scoff at…
Ada Calhoun writes in her article, To Stay Married, Embrace Change in the New York Times on 4/21/2017, “Several long-married people I know have said this exact line: ‘I’ve had at least three marriages. They’ve just all been with the same person’.” It is the same in the…
Read More
Hymn text translated by John Mason Neale
Arrangement, additional text & melody by Kristin Schweain
Read More
Lord, on this day, we ask you to forgive us. Forgive us for the times when we have pointed with disdain at our neighbor for their sin while neglecting to see our own. Forgive us for refusing to acknowledge our own biases…
Read More
It must have been destiny, or pre-destiny. I didn’t choose Ephesians, it chose me. Romans reached out and beckoned Augustine as those kids on the other side of the hedge sang “tolle lege—Take and read!” Romans had a similar effect on Luther and Lloyd-Jones. Chrysostom lived in John. Spurgeon was…
Read More
Words & Music by Blake Flattley
Read More
God gives us more than we can handle
Be it grief, pain, loneliness, scandal…
Let’s play a game – you’re probably familiar with it. Would you rather…?
Would you rather sit with entrepreneurial leaders advancing innovation or sit in an empty circle of chairs embarrassed, confused, and alone?…
Read More
The long-time pastor’s wife at Trinity, Nordis Christenson, famously said, “The Christian life would be easy—if it wasn’t so daily.”
Human nature, according to the good book, is bad. Really bad. Some call it a low anthropology…
Read More
Six months into my seminary internship year, if you could’ve seen my thought bubble it would read, “I think I’ve said everything that I can think of saying.” I started to worry about where I would find material for decades of preaching. I’m not worried anymore. If I was…
Read More
Baby Christian was followed closely by Baby Annika who was followed more closely by Baby Samuel. When we found out that Baby Peter was following even closer, the Call from Trinity seemed like a Godsend for a very down-to-earth reason: we would be geographically closer to family.
Read More
For some reason, I was under the impression that it was a promotion to minister to adults. Youth and family ministry was an entry-level position. Gain some experience and someday you could become a real pastor. How misguided…
Read More
Something is wrong when more people expect to find grace at Cheers Bar in Boston than at First Church on Main Street. Cheers is where everyone knows your name. First Church has a reputation for being where everyone judges your failures…
Read More