I’m not really sure how it started. I just know it never stopped. The experimentation and play, the endless capacity for questioning and sense of wonder I had as a child were something I never quite outgrew. The impulse to create. The pursuit of the new.
Read MoreAn influencer tweets on Saturday night, “If your pastor doesn’t at least mention __________ today, you might want to find a new church!” A YouTube Religotician (religious politician), or is it Poligionist (political religionist), confidently proclaims that your pastor must…
Read MoreIf you have ever planted a church then you know it is nothing short of God speaking life into the daily laments of anxiety, despair, and uncertainty. Trust me, church planting is an exercise in utter self-conscious dependency.
Read MoreWe know that the gospel, while wholly in the Holy Spirit’s hands, can be extremely poignant when infused into someone's specific story. We also know that when a piece of art captures one story, it can speak to an unimaginable amount of people.
Read MoreI wake up every morning with the sun, and if I am lucky, I wake up two hours ahead of my household. I am gitty really if everyone is fast asleep and I know the house is all mine. I tiptoe quietly downstairs to make the coffee, pick-up my Psalms journal, and begin my day.
Read MoreIn America rivalry is everything. Competition drives the market - not just economically but in the realm of athletics, academia, music, and social media. As a result, a misconception is perpetuated that equality exists for all citizens of our society. Americans, in general, only care to promote equality when it best serves their own interests. I am not referring to the great civil rights movements throughout the course of American history but to the…
Read MoreI haven’t always been an editor, but I have always been a writer. And I guess you could say the latter informs the former. As a writer, you are still working to edit your own work, but at some point, it’s also essential to have a second (or third) opinion.
Read MoreFaith opens receptivity to creation, kindles wonder, and evokes gratitude. It is, in fact, the abundant life Jesus promises, not a life where everything is always delightful, since we too find crosses set before us, but a life open to the whole gamut of experience, ups, and downs, voiced in praise and lament, given word in the Psalter, the book which is true “know thyself,” as Luther put it, precisely because it gives voice to the full range of human experience.
Read MoreEvery day for the last 8 years, I have sat down either with a pen and paper or keyboard and screen to write. Before I begin, I say a simple prayer:
Lord, May my words spread hope. Amen.
Read MoreMost mornings, my walk takes me past Bernadette. She stands watering the rose bushes dotted around the front lawn of her apartment building. I’m not sure if she owns the building with its lush lawn and beautiful roses. All I do know is that Bernadette is present, tending to the plants with care and greeting me with a joyful “Good Morning my Sweet Dominic! How are you today?” To me, this is…
Read MoreGottesdienst is a German word meaning God’s service or divine service. The word itself is beautifully ambiguous as it explains what happens when we gather. Lutherans use this word sometimes to describe worship, however, the word gottesdienst more accurately than the word worship describes the interaction that takes place between God and man. God giving His gifts...
Read MoreI don't think I fully appreciated seasons until I moved to New York City. Previously I had spent most of my adult life in Southern California where there is essentially always some variation on a nice day.
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