The Goodness of God

Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 03:41:06 GMT

For his first ever sermon, Peter became the first person to face a new a troubling questions: "How do I tell people about Jesus?" Peter had walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, and bore direct witness to the resurrection. The crowd of thousands that he now stared down had done none of that. When Jesus did all the talking, this was easy. Now, Peter is in charge and has the proverbial microphone, so he finds a point of commonality and points the crowd to the eternally scared thing that Jesus did.

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John 20:1-18 (2026)

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT

The way that we tell the Easter story has at least a couple of problems. First, we read it as if every one is perfectly calm and in command of themselves, so we lose the impact that it most of had on the people at the time. Second, the meaning of Easter isn't contained in the accounts of the resurrection. For each Gospel, we get an account that Jesus rose, but it's the rest of the New Testament that explores that meaning. So, we often fail to appreciate Easter for what it is - a profound turning point in human history where God's power overcomes even the mightiest of foes.

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John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (2026)

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 03:43:23 GMT

The entire setup for the Last Supper sheds important light on what really matters. Jesus only has a few hours before his arrest. He decides to spend it teaching his closest friend about the importance of loving and serving one another. Jesus even washes the feet of the man who had already betrayed him. This should put life and faith into perspective. With limited time, Jesus stressed to his friends the deep spiritual significance of loving each other.

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Matthew 21:1-11

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 22:07:43 GMT

Our tendency, as Jesus triumphally enters Jerusalem, is to keep our eyes on Jesus. Fair enough. He's the protagonist for the entire Gospel narrative. He's also the Son of God, the Divine Logos, etc. If anyone deserves our attention, it's Christ. However, if we look beyond who is in the center of the shot, we see something powerful - a massive group of disparate people coming together to spontaneous worship and begin to understand who this Jesus guy is. This is a potent image of the fulfilled Kingdom of God: Jesus at the center, victorious and people being brought together to be transformed.

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Ezekiel 37:1-14

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 02:59:08 GMT

During the long Exile, God's people faced a reasonable question: can things get better? How does it all go back together. To answer this, God led the prophet, Ezekiel, out to the desert to observe some dry bones coming back to life. God can breathe new life into God's people. That was true 2,500 years ago, and through God's sanctifying grace, is true in your life as well. God can breathe new life into you and transform you into something truly new.

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Romans 5:1-11

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 02:30:18 GMT

The remarkable rhythm that keeps playing out between humanity and God is that God starts by loving us. Christ's death on the cross is the most extreme example of that. Humanity kept failing. Humanity put Jesus on that cross. He bore that out of love for us all - even though we were not worthy of that love. It is that love that unleashed God's grace into the world. Even before we are even the tiniest bit righteous, we get counted that way.

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John 3:1-17 (2026)

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

John 3:16 is an incredibly recognizable piece of Scripture. We hold it up as a Gospel in miniature. We memorize. We emblazon it on t-shirts, lettermen jackets, mugs, and wall art. It's at the top of the list of hit Scriptures. So, what is this Pharisee doing in this scene? We know the Scripture so well that we can lose sight of its context. Jesus lays it on in a respectful but pointed debate with Nicodemus - a leading Pharisee. What about Jesus drew him into this conversation? How did it change him?

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Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The snake, Eve, and Adam, each in their own way, find fascinating ways to mess up. The snake attempts to tempt another. Eve gives into ambition and gives Adam a chance eat as well. Adam neither tries to stop Eve nor heads God's instruction himself. We view this series of events as the origin of sin, and theologians, including John Wesley, have wrestled with how to guide folks through their own moments of temptation. For Wesley, he broke down three general rules: 1. Do no harm. 2. Do good. 3. Stay in touch with God. If only ANYONE, snake, Eve, or Adam had thought to do ANY of that.

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Matthew 17:1-9

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

It's one of those scene that we see every year. Jesus goes up the mountain with Peter, James, and John. Moses and Elijah show up. God speaks claiming Jesus as God's Son. Then, they all have go back down the mountain and back to work. Matthew says that Jesus is "transfigured" before them. Yes, he looked different, but it was reality that was revealed. Peter, James, and John caught a glimpse of who Christ really is, and it is that power of God that is transforming our world.

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Isaiah 58:1-12

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

If asked some version of "What do you think God wants you to do?" we could all probably spit out something like "God's will" or "Follow Christ" or "Answer the Great Commission" or "Be a good person." The Prophet Isaiah puts a lot more meat onto the bones of what God really wants. God wants us to stop fighting with each other and instead liberate the oppressed, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. He lays it out directly and in black and white. Religious ceremonies aren't the core. Caring about people often left behind sits there right alongside having a relationship with God.

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Micah 6:1-8

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 05:38:56 GMT

How do we really change things? We might feel powerless or angry. We might feel paralyzed or the urge to rush out into the street. God calls us to seek justice, but in our hyperpolarized world, perspectives on justice vary wildly. It's a wrestling process - wrestling with God and your place in the world. It's a discerning process - thinking about where you are capable of making an impact. It's also back recognizing that people change more often in relationship than in an argument with a stranger.

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1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 05:42:35 GMT

In his argument with the Corinthians, that we called 1 Corinthians, Paul does something surprising. He doesn't put the Corinthians in their place by pointing at this own greatness or accomplishments. Paul doesn't make it about him at all. He makes it about Christ, and in that way, empties himself and seeks to level the playing field.

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John 1:29-42

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 03:23:25 GMT

John the Baptist, Peter, and Andrew go directly against what's good for them. John has become the leader of a religious movement. People wonder if he's the Messiah. John repeatedly points to the reality that Jesus is the far greater. Peter and Andrew leave behind a comfortable life to follow Jesus into unknown discomfort. They set an example that undergird being part of God's work and God's call to justice. We have set aside our interests and go in the direction that God points us. We have to care not primarily for ourselves but for the things that God cares about.

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Movie Review: David

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 04:00:06 GMT

A children's movie about King David? It's a musical for some reason. It's made by Angel Studios. The entire concept created a lot of skepticism. Will it be terrible? Will it be wildly theologically conservative? Will it just be a nonstop preach-fest? It's none of those things. Instead, they made a weirdly decent children's movie that grasps a decent junk of what the Bible wants you to know about Biblical kings. We are as shocked as anyone.

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Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany 2026)

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The story of the Magi's arrival is as much about who isn't there as who is. Three gentile astronomer priest journey from afar, show up, get filled with joy, worship the infant Lord, and work to protect. Missing are the priest, scribes, and King Herod. They all know better than the Magi what's happening, but none of them show up to pay homage. Instead, Herod hatches a plot to kill Jesus. The contrasts are stark and remind us that Christ troubles the powerful but welcomes the previously excluded.

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Luke 2:1-20 & John 1:1-18 (Christmas Special)

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 19:06:06 GMT

Christmas represents the tension between the vastness of God's grandeur and the lowliness of the Christ's birth. Jesus was born to a working family, in a shed, surrounded by farm workers. He's also the Lord of all creation, the divine word, who built the underlining foundation of all things. We welcome an infant born to a brave, faithful, and average young woman. This baby is God among us. This tension means to invite. You should see yourself in Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds and see that you belong in God's family.

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Matthew 1:18-25

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The New Testament works at a way different scale than the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, we work at the scale of nations, kings, prophets, princesses, emperors, and generals. We mostly remember the high and mighty. The New Testament is largely about teen moms, fishermen, lepers, tent makers, a few rich homeowners, and a bunch of shop keepers. The story of Christ's birth focuses on a godly, brave, and loving carpenter who turns out to be the perfect earthly father for Jesus. Joseph's might doesn't come from his position or social standing. Instead, we remember him purely because of how faithful he turns out to be.

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Luke 1:46b-55

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 02:46:21 GMT

Mary is extremely brave. She risks at lot and at an young age, yet she greets all of this with joy. The Magnificat, Mary's beautiful song at the beginning of Luke, boldly declares exactly what her soon to be born child means and excitement and amazement at the whole thing. Mary gets it far earlier than anyone else in the New Testament, more so than the Disciples, or anyone else who met Jesus in his earthly life. May we all gain Mary's clarity and joy at the birth of a savior.

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Isaiah 11:1-10

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 04:09:33 GMT

From the Root of Jesse's tree (AKA the House of David) will come one who makes all things well. When Isaiah spoke these words, the king who arrived made things better, but they didn't stay better for long. Destruction and exile eventually came. These words of the prophet point to what a messiah, a savior is and does. They come from the House of David, and they set things right. Some Old Testament kings did that in limited ways and for a while. Christ does it for everyone and for always.

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Matthew 24:36-44

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 13:36:25 GMT

Jesus is actually quite clear about trying to predict the end times. He essentially says, "Don't bother. Even I don't know." Instead, we should focus on being spiritually ready, living our lives with hope, and trust that at some unknown point, God will make all things well. That there is an end point is meant to motivate discipleship - not rampant speculation. We begin each Christian year with an image of the end to remind us of what God has done, is doing, and will do.

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Luke 23:33-43

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 01:14:35 GMT

Imagine yourself at your worst moment. Picture in your mind's eye being pushed, painfully, to the brink of death. How would you react to the people responsible for putting you in that situation? How would you treat those around you? This is the context of Jesus offering forgiveness to persecutors and to the penitent thief as he hangs on a cross. Jesus is actively and painfully dying and spends his remaining breath offering forgiveness to the guilty. This is the brutal hope of God's grace. It's forgiveness that can contain the breadth of human brokenness.

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Isaiah 65:17-25

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The ending of Isaiah projects a beautiful image of the world made right. Jerusalem restored. People live to an advanced aged. The lion eats straw. The serpent is not longer a problem. For a people deeply traumatized from the experience of exile and now returned home, there are probably images that felt both comforting and true. There world, once rocked and destroyed, had massively improved. However, it was not yet the perfection described in Isaiah's vision. Indeed, that level of perfection still eludes us. So, we find trust in the promises already kept to find hope in the promises still out there to be fulfilled.

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1 Corinthians 7: 7-8, 25-40, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and Purity Culture

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 02:59:18 GMT

Purity Culture is a thing - quite a thing. It was all the rage in youth groups across the nation and fed in part by Joshua Harris's I Kissed Dating Goodbye. It put an extreme focus on saying literally everything until marriage and turned pre-martial sex (particularly for young women) into a kind of uber sin, a sin that there's no coming back from. Good news! None of that's in the Bible, and Joshua Harris has disavowed his own book that he wrote at the age of 21 (the age where everyone always has it all figured out).

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Ephesians 1:11-23

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Contemplating the meaning of life is one of humanity's eternal challenges. We want there to be meaning - to have our existence be more than simply a set of memories that evaporate with us. Our relationship with God hold the answers to these questions and fears. While our earthly life does end, God does not, and when we invest our lives into our relationship with God and with others, our existence and relationships go on forever. It's not just that our work and efforts out live us. It's that cease being a part of what God is doing - eternally.

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Luke 18:9-14

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 01:37:14 GMT

Two men pray, but the one that doesn't match the traditional social script is the one that walks away justified. Part of God's deep beauty is the way that God, unlike the bulk of humanity, looks purely at a person's heart. It's not about being from a righteousness focused group or being the wrong kind of person. God sees through all of that into a person's reality and deeper motivation. So, as we approach God, we should do so with our genuine selves because we can't hide anything from God.

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Luke 18:1-8

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 02:21:54 GMT

Talking about prayer can stray to some difficult directions extremely quickly. When we have story about being persistent in prayer and about God's goodness, we need to balance all of that being truth with the fact that plenty of people end up feeling like they're prayer didn't get answered. That persistence isn't simply about banging down God's door. It's about staying in our relationship with God even when the answer that we get doesn't align with our desires.

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Luke 17:11-19

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 02:34:40 GMT

Jesus concludes a conversation with a particularly thankful leper that his "faith had made him well." Ten lepers all received physical healing just because they asked. This one who turns around and actually thanks Jesus gets something additional. It all points to a kind of wellness or wholeness that stretches far beyond the physical. Thankfulness and a deeper connection with God are all part of a much deeper and holistic version of being well.

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2 Timothy 1:1-14

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT

2 Timothy positions Paul at the end of his life - reflecting on what it meant and trying to pass something onto the next generation. Timothy represents that next generation. He grew up in the church and marks a major shift in church leadership to second generation Christians. He's the first youth group kid that made good. We see an early iteration of what has become the eternal work of the church - to prepare and inspire the next generation to continue the great relay race of faith.

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An Emotional Journey Through Shiny Happy People (Season 2)

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Shiny Happy People Season 2: A Teenaged Holy War is A LOT if you crew up in the Christian Rock/Evangelical/Contemporary Christian Music scene in the 1990s and early 2000s. Both Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily very much did. Journey with them as they explain their near misses and the ways that they might still be fighting a holy war.

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Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 21:46:39 GMT

Jeremiah is a sad prophet. He has a lot to be sad about. By serving as prophet in the direct run up to the Exile, he was never going to have a lot of good news to report. The people are crying out for relief, but a long history of their own failings landed them in this position in the first place. When we find our selves wondering where God is in the midst of a world looking on the brink of collapse, we might call to mind the normal way that God moves in the world - through people heeding God's call.

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1 Timothy 1:12-17

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 03:11:29 GMT

Every tell all documentary about a new religious movement takes a turn at some point. They all start out with a merry band of weirdos and misfits - folks who never feel like they belong anywhere else but finally find belonging. It's great. Eventually, it all turns dark when someone declares themselves perfect and a living god to be followed and served unquestioningly. Paul never does that step. He stay humble and even in his farewell address to his second in command, Timothy, call himself the foremost among sinners. That's part of why we can revere Paul because Paul doesn't revere Paul.

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Luke 14:25-33

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:47:04 GMT

Sometimes, Jesus goes for shock value. You have to be willing to hate all your loved ones, get rid of all your property, and take up your cross. It's a lot. It's probably, partly, hyperbole, but still, it's a blunt statement on the nature of discipleship. God comes first. We live our lives with God as one priority among many - job, family, the grind daily life, our finances. That's not how Jesus lived, and this scripture about the cost of discipleship challenges us to live differently as well.

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Luke 14:1, 7-14

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 02:50:33 GMT

This scripture looks like social advice. Don't jump to the seat on honor until it's offered to you. Sure. However, there's more to it than that. It's not just about where you try to sit and, instead, is more about how important you think that you are. Don't think so highly of yourself that you automatically assume that honors should be coming your way, and don't see yourself as above others that you don't leave room for those that often get left behind.

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Luke 13:10-17

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 22:35:58 GMT

Any time we hear about Jesus healing or doing anything else on the Sabbath, we have to recognize that he is breaking the Law. He keeps getting a reaction for it because it is truly and rightfully shocking to his original audience. The Old Testament spends a lot of time explaining that you should be willing to die rather than be prevented from living a holy, Law abiding life. Jesus keeps breaking the Law. He's making a bigger point about what sits beneath the Law as written, about what the Law is meant to teach us. We love God by following the Law, and we love neighbor through acts of kinds. We also love God, the most, by loving neighbor. If the two are in conflict, choose love.

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Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 01:42:48 GMT

Sit through enough funerals, All Saints Day services, or Memorial Day events, and at some point, some one will remind you of the "Great Cloud of Witnesses." We often use this as a generic term for the saints that came before us. Their original context, in Hebrews, is far from generic. This cloud is specifically our faithful heroes of the Old Testament who went through a shocking amount of human suffering for the sake of God. The paragraphs leading setting up the celebration of the witnesses and our challenge to be like them are almost comically graphic in their descriptions of what these folks went to. The Great Cloud of Witnesses were folks who held God as their primary allegiance.

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Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 01:25:05 GMT

When we picture a "religion" in our mind, we probably see ceremonies, special outfits, and specific traditions. We might call to find a Catholic Mass, a Jewish Passover seder, or a Muslim family breaking a fast together during Ramadan. In theory, we practice these rituals to connect us to God and each other - to help us down a journey of transformation. The religion is a set of practices to aid in a meaningful divine human relationship. Isaiah opens with a warning. Don't stop at the ritual piece. They don't mean anything if you don't continue to part of caring more for people because of your relationship with God.

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Luke 12:13-21

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 05:07:03 GMT

Before starting this episode, open up Google maps and punch in "storage units near me." In classic Internet parlance, the results may surprise you. They're massive and just about everywhere. We keep finding more stuff to put in them. Who doesn't like cool stuff? However, Jesus reminds us of a couple of things. One, we can't take it with us, and two, maybe we should focus on the things that we can take with us - our relationship with God and others. Additionally, could there be another use for all that money in God's kingdom somewhere? Who can say?

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Luke 11:1-13

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 05:57:41 GMT

God's innate goodness is one of Christianity's core tenets. We agree. We named this show the Goodness of God. However, God is not a vending machine or a bad version of Santa Claus. It's not just insert a prayer and get out your desired result. Things we pray for don't come to pass. Things that we pray against happen. So, we have to zoom out and dig deeper into the goodness of God.

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Luke 10:38-42

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Human life pulls us in a lot of directions. Our culture values the right grindset. Social media companies hope that you never rest and just keep clicking away. We can hear the story of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and see it as wildly unrealistic. Get back to work, Mary! While we can't let go of every responsibility, we can be more intentional in seeking God in the midst of it all and limiting what pulls us away.

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Luke 10:25-37

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:52:24 GMT

We want exceptions to who we have to love because the alternative challenges us in a deep and dark place. Humans are shockingly good at dehumanizing other humans to create lists and categories of people that we don't have to care about, who we can harm, who we can exclude. Jesus obliterates all of that with one parable - the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The hated enemy gets cast as the hero, who in turn, cares for his enemy. We don't get easy outs. The call is to love even the most unlovable - even the person ruining the thing that you love.

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2 Kings 5:1-14

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 22:46:55 GMT

God just is. God is everywhere. God is in your life. God has power. God is constantly moving. As humans, we develop tools and techniques that help us comprehend, access, and see what God is doing. We have religious words for them like "ritual," "worship," or "sacrament," These things can help us find God, but they are not themselves God or powerful. In the story from 2 Kings, the great general Naaman feels disappointed that he didn't get an elaborate ceremony, but it wasn't needed. God just healed him.

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Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Freedom is a fascinating thing. Paul gives us that Christians are free in Christ, but what is it that we are free to do? It certainly doesn't seem to be freedom as often culturally defined. Instead, it's the freedom finally live free of things that drag us down and away from the life that God always intended for us. Christians are free to live and love a more whole and constructive human life.

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1 Kings 19:1-15a

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 04:15:53 GMT

In what feels like a spot on description of life with major depression, Elijah flees into the wilderness and essentially collapses. God sends angels to care for him. Then, in what one of the Bible's best known scenes, Elijah experiences the direct presence of God not in some grand gesture but in stillness and silence. We long for the grand gestures, but so much of how God moves and so much of what we need happen in the midst of the quiet, simple, and mundane.

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Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Proverbs lyrically declares God wise and personifies that wisdom, but this should lead us to ask the next order question: what is wise? As humans, we often conflate complexity and wisdom, when if fact, the wisest answers are often deceptively simple and elegant.

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Acts 2:1-21 (2025)

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 02:26:05 GMT

The story of God's people is a never ending relay race, where one generation passes the baton to the next in an unbroken chain. The Holy Spirit continually moving in people is what facilitates that. In the story of Pentecost, we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit, but it just kept going from there. We can struggle to believe it sometimes, but the Holy Spirit will always keep things moving along.

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John 14:23-29

Tue, 20 May 2025 22:53:03 GMT

We are promised by Jesus that God, in the form of the Holy Spirit will continue with us as our guide and advocate. However, there is a fair corollary question to that we don't answer often enough - how exactly does that work? People often talk of feelings or mystical experiences, but what if you want desperately to have one of those, and it just ain't happening? The answer is that we should look around, listening the people around us not just for a voice on the wind, and recognize that a lot of God's work happens in community.

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Acts 11:1-18

Tue, 13 May 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Peter really thought that he understood how God worked. Even after Jesus's earthly ministry, he thought that some things remained true. Specifically, Gentiles were still on the outside of what God was doing. Then, all of sudden, God tells Peter that it's otherwise and then directly demonstrates in no uncertain terms that Gentiles can receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter then sets a great example for us. He rolls with it. He's totally surprised, but he sees the movement of God and keeps moving with it.

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Revelation 7:9-17

Tue, 06 May 2025 23:15:52 GMT

The Book of Revelation has a fearsome reputation. Thus, it gets avoided consistently by most folks not interested in the End Times Industrial Complex. It will get shouted at you by very sweaty people with an ax to grind and world to end, but it seldom gets calm consideration as a piece of Scripture. It's actually a story of hope, of hanging in there, and of God's inevitable victory. It's also a work that shows that world won't look right until God's victory gets cemented. So, if you look at the world and see a thing that doesn't look right and need a source of hope, Revelation is literally the book for you!

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John 21:1-19

Thu, 01 May 2025 02:02:03 GMT

A lot of people suffer from an internal perfectionism that we then project on to God. Yes, God cares deeply about how we behave. Yes. God sets standards and does expect us to rise to them. However, when we see Jesus encounter a well meaning follower, Peter, who screws up royally, Jesus offers Peter a way back. Jesus doesn't ignore what Peter did, but Jesus also doesn't damn or reject Peter for it. Peter gets an offer of grace, love, and opportunity to grow.

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John 20:19-31 (2025)

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 21:11:16 GMT

More often than not, responsible consideration ends up saying, "This scripture isn't about you!" Or, at least, you might be able to gain something from this scripture, but you were not its original or primary audience. The story of Doubting Thomas (or more accurately Late to the Meeting Thomas) is absolutely about you. It's about anyone who tries to find faith in an era, when you can't just stick your hands into Jesus's sick scars. It's a story about how all belief is a journey, and one that was easier for the Apostles than for us. Jesus knows that and is here with you all the way.

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Luke 24:1-12

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 05:01:00 GMT

Easter is Christianity's highest of the high holy days. Jesus rose from the dead, and reality shifted on its axis. At the heart of the entire Holy Week journey is God tipping God's hand about how God approaches humanity. Despite a never ending series of disappointments, stretching back through time and stretching into the future, God choose to make love us God's first priority.

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John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Jesus has one more night to try and drive home what he needs his disciples to know before everything gets blown into chaos. He has to make his point about what it really means to be him and to be a follower of him. The stakes at the Last Supper are weirdly high. Jesus knows what's coming. Judas has made his choice. The wheels are in motion. So, Jesus takes off his outer robe, kneels down at before each of his disciples, and washes their feet. It was always about love and coming to serve. Jesus sets that example for us all to follow.

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Luke 19:28-40

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 01:10:27 GMT

The normal order of things goes: 1. Plan the battle. 2. Fight the battle. 3. Declare victory in the battle. At the root of Christ's triumphal entry is a novel ordering of a battle. 1. (Before the beginning of time) Plan the battle. 2. Declare victory in the battle by triumphally entering Jerusalem. 3. Fight the battle by going to the cross. From a human perspective, the result of the battle is in doubt. What does it mean that Jesus dies? What does it mean that Christ hasn't returned? However, time and time again, Scripture seeks to remind us that when God decides to take the field, the battle is already over.

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John 12:1-8

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 22:30:09 GMT

Mary anoints Jesus with incredibly expensive perfume, and Judas pipes up inquiring if it was better meant for the poor. To many of us, this probably seems cut and dry, and a rare point for Judas. Jesus rules in favor of Mary. Why? How? It all boils down to the squishy mix of motivate, passion, and timing. The right thing isn't always the right thing, and the obliviously wrong isn't always that either.

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Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 16:11:09 GMT

God has tremendous love and joy for a wanderer of who finds their way back home. We deeply love this aspect of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and it's absolutely true, deeply, and truly hopeful. When we wander, we can always come home and be welcomed with open arms. However, the other question that the parable asks, that we like to glance over, is whether, we, would have found our way home, are as excited for and welcoming of the new wanderers as God is? The older brother doesn't share the father's excited. Does the church look like that sometimes?

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Isaiah 55:1-9

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Humanity longs for more than mere existence, but we are not always great at finding that meaning in good and healthy places. That missing spot in our souls is meant to filled by the presence and power of God. That is the thing that will never leave us emptier than when we started.

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Philippians 3:17-4:1

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 00:04:34 GMT

What matters the most in life? What helps us overcome our existential fears? When all our physical needs are met, and we can finally appear out to deeper concerns, where do we turn? These are humans most profound and enduring questions, and we've come up with a whole hosts - including lean into decadence and excess. Paul uses his call to Christian unity to the Philippians to posit another answer. Our citizenship resides in Heaven rather than being ruled by more imminent concerns.

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Luke 4:1-13

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 21:30:16 GMT

After 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus gets tempted by Satan. In the exchange, Satan quotes scripture at Jesus, and Jesus counters with quotes from scripture. Jesus's temptations may look way different from ours. Satan can only tempt with doing the wrong good thing. We may have baser temptations, but we are not left alone to deal with them. God pours out strength if we will take the time and create the space for us to receive it and intentionally prepare to resist temptation.

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Luke 9:28-43a

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 18:57:51 GMT

Peter and James and John get a powerful window into the true nature of this semi-homeless, traveling rabbi, son of a carpenter. Turns out, he's God, and at the Transfiguration, he gets wardrobe and company worthy of that. It's a cosmic tip of the hand to the deeper reality of our reality. Things may seem perpetually mundane, but God is in the world. So, our actual actuality has much deeper dimensions and deeper hope.

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Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:53:06 GMT

Our world feels utterly ripped apart, and it can appear impossible for the chasm to mend. When massive harm happens, forgiveness and healing seems unreachably far away. Joseph's brother did an extreme degree of harm to Joseph. The tried to kill him, chose to sell him into slavery instead, and robbed him of home, comfort, and love. For years, his life was a desperate struggle for survival. Yet, when he ended up in a position of great power and had the opportunity to rightly punish his family, he chose to forgive and love. So, we know that with God, that level of healing is at least possible.

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Luke 6:17-26

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

We can all too easily over spiritualize this whole religion. We can imagine a God that cares for souls, and thus, we should be in the caring for souls business. We trust in Heaven and serve no earthly good. God does care for souls, but God cares holistically - for the immaterial and the profoundly material. The Sermon of the Mount points to the soul. The Sermon of the Plain grounds us in reality. God has a special place in God's heart for the poor and downtrodden, and woe to us if we don't do the same.

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Luke 5:1-11

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 02:54:29 GMT

Jesus leads Peter and friends to catch a massive amount of fish. This, my friends, is a metaphor for life in God's Kingdom. It's easy in our modern moment to feel massively disconnected and cut off, and it's even easier to believe that we cannot bridge the divides that rend us asunder. Yet, God can forge an abundance of connection. It's hard to believe that's possible, but that is exactly the kind of miracle that sits at the core of who God is.

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1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:58:02 GMT

We like the way this scripture sounds. "Love is patient. Love is kind." It's a glorious example of what Paul is capable of as a writer, but it's not a romantic or nice text. He's reaching the height of some hard hitting rhetoric about the Corinthians arrogance and lack of love. This ode of love is a master stroke in an extended argument. It's a challenge. Love is the greatest of all. Is that reflected in your actions?

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How to Restart a Church: Interview with Daryl Van Tongeren

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 14:00:00 GMT

Daryl Van Tongeren is a Professor of Psychology at Hope College, and he researches life's biggest question - including the psychology of religion. In 2024, he published Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion, which looks deeply at folks who have left religion - who decided that they are done. His words carry a strong message for churches everywhere. We are going to live into our mission of meeting people where they are, we will need to become a humbler and more ethical faith.

Buy Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion

https://www.amazon.com/Done-Flourish-Leaving-Religion-LifeTools/dp/1433836238/

The Flourishing Collective

https://www.theflourishingco.org/

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1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Thu, 23 Jan 2025 05:39:57 GMT

The Body of Christ is one interconnected body, and we are all a part of it. We each have a piece of the puzzle and a part to play. It's easy to get comfortable, to sit on the sidelines, to use our gifts for our own purpose. It is also easy to ignore how we are all connected together. When we do that, we miss something vital. Us, using our God given gifts, form God's plan for the transformation of the world. We are the plan.

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How to Restart a Church: Appalachia Service Project (Repost)

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

(Editor's Note: The original version of this video had an editing mistake that made it unwatchable, and then, we were out of the studio for 3 weeks. This is the fixed version!)

Melisa Winburn is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Appalachia Service Project - an organization that has been helping Appalachians with their homes since the 1960s. It's an organizations that strikes the balance between having deep roots across a five state area and being able to coordinated the energies of 10,000 short term missions workers every year. Hurricane Helene profoundly altered their mission field and there work, but at the core, it remains about building relationships by caring deeply for communities.

Give to ASP:

https://asphome.org/give/

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1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 05:31:39 GMT

We can all feel like imposters sometimes - like everyone around us is more gifted than we are. Christians can also get obsessed that whatever gifts that they possess are the most important or most spiritual. People clearly felt both of these things in the 2000 years ago as much as we do now because Paul devotes a good chuck of 1 Corinthians to yelling the opposite of both at the top of his lungs. Everyone has a God given gift, and all gifts are of equal value.

The United Methodist Church's spiritual gifts inventory:

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/spiritual-gifts-inventory/en

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Luke 1:39-55

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:00:10 GMT

Mary, the mother of Christ, plays a huge role in the first chunk of Luke's Gospel. She remains a global celebrity today with churches, art, apartment complexes, and entire nations devoted to her. She is a tremendous historical anomaly. She's not a queen or an empress - just a normal teenager for Galilee. Her faithfulness rather than the situation of her birth makes her worthy of her lasting following.

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Luke 3:7-18

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 22:34:49 GMT

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - everywhere you go. You house is filling with objects, boxes, and shipping envelopes. John the Baptist's call to simple and connected economic existence can feel particularly hard hitting. "If you have enough, share the rest. Don't exploit people." How can I do this, when I've got four more people on my Christmas list? This probably isn't a tension that one can easily resolve....

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How to Restart a Church: (Movie Review) Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:00:38 GMT

Angel Studios decided to tell the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and we decided to go see it. Neither of those decisions were great ones. The movie is more earnest, better acted, and more in line with Bonhoeffer's life and theology than one might imagine. Does that make it a good film? No, no, it does not.

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Luke 1:68-79

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 20:40:25 GMT

After naming John the Baptist, Zechariah gets his voice back and belts out a prophecy of his own. Those promises from of old, that felt like they dwindled over time, are back with a vengeance. God will speak. A king from the House of David will rule God's people. God will make all things well. It's going to look way different than before, but that difference is its strength. Christ's birth kicks off a mighty movement of God.

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Luke 21:25-36

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 01:22:50 GMT

Every Christian year begins with a scripture about the end of the world. This isn't to scare people, but to give people hope. In the end, God wins handily. It won't always look like that's what's going to happen, but God has kept every other promise. So, we being every year with a reminder of the promise still hanging out there unfilled, and God's history of righteousness. We can carry this with us as a spark of hope in a dark world.

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John 18:33-37

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 22:18:06 GMT

Jesus's trial before Pontius Pilate does start to feel like two men quipping at each other about the nature of true. Pilate gets portrayed as hapless or spineless, but history reveals him to be absolutely ruthless. On the other hand, Christ won't even raise a hand in his own defense. He dies willingly out of love. This conversation functions on a symbolic level for the difference between earthly empire and the Kingdom of God. Who do you want to be your ruler? What Kingdom do you want the world to look like?

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How to Restart a Church: (Movie Review) 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted a Culture

Sat, 23 Nov 2024 05:36:03 GMT

1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted a Culture, on one level, is a film about how the word "homosexual" entered the canon of Scripture less than a lifetime ago. It was done via the translators for the Revised Standard Version (RSV), and its use has only risen with later translations. However, the team behind the RSV retracted its usage. That shift reveals one of the real themes of the movie that should resonate throughout modern Christianity: humility. The film centers on our addiction to certainty and the ways that we damage people with it.

About the film:

https://www.1946themovie.com/

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1 Samuel 1:4-20

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 01:37:19 GMT

Most people with Depression would recognize Hannah's story. She's crushed by a weight that she can't shake. Some people in her life try their best to help. Others go out of their way to make it worse. Hannah seeks help from her religious leader and gets accused of being drunk. Fortunately for Hannah and all of us, God always sees clearly our need and situation and always responds with love.

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Mark 12:38-44

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:21 GMT

In our attention obsessed world, it's easy to feel forgotten and left out - that no one sees or appreciates what you're doing, and that you don't matter. The real nature of the universe doesn't work that way. God has perfect sight and sees perfectly what you are doing. For the most important audience, your devotion is always seen and appreciated.

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How to Restart a Church: Central UMC, Galveston, TX

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 14:00:48 GMT

Ten years ago, Central UMC in Galveston restarted with four people, a young pastor, and a dream to be more connected to their community. Instead of building a mountain of plans, the got to listening and learning. Out of that came a mission to serve folks without homes and folks who for whatever reason don’t fit into church as normal. They rip out half the pews, replaces those with couches, started a bike repair ministry, worked with the local med school to open a full service clinic, built a ton of relationships, and became the keepers of even more stories. Their journey is tale of what is possible if you dig openheartedly into your specific context.

Support their work:

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Mark 10:46-52

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 23:16:09 GMT

God sure does seem to love a good irony. The blind man sees Jesus most clearly and walks away from the encounter completely healed and inspired to follow Christ. However, due to his faith, he had a different kind of wellness long before his direct encounter with Christ. His soul knew God so intimately that he lived spiritually well even as his blindness limited other aspects of his life. Our world today has these same kind of people, who see God clearly even though no one believes them. We should have better hears to hear.

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How to Restart a Church: Interview with Lovett Weems Jr.

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 13:00:41 GMT

Lovett Weems Jr. and F. Douglas Powe Jr.'s book Sustaining While Disrupting leans into the tension of trying to do something radically different with church. You have all these people tied and attached to the old way being. However, you need to be doing things that are radically different to reach folks who aren't interested in what you are doing. Navigating that requires intentionally leading folks challenging, listening, communicating, and cheerleading in equal measure.

Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation

https://www.amazon.com/Sustaining-While-Disrupting-Congregational-Innovation/dp/1506479200/

Lewis Center for Church Leadership

https://www.churchleadership.com/

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Job 38:1-7, 34-41

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 03:10:22 GMT

Job throws what might get described as a temper tantrum, and God responds. God doesn't zap Job or judge Job harshly. God doesn't really answer Job's question either. God simply states that God is in fact God, and Job very much is not. This ancient pondering on human suffering and the feeling of divine absence ends in mystery. God works on a scale that we cannot comprehend, and, on some level, we must all work through that.

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Mark 10:17-31

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 21:49:34 GMT

Jesus doesn't place a limit on discipleship. He call us all to live after his example and give everything that we have. As humans, who are not in fact God, we need to walk more carefully. We can do great harm, when we substitute our own voice for the voice of God. Christians are all called to absolute devotion, but we each have the responsibility to discern it for ourselves.

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How to Restart a Church: What's Wrong with Worship?

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 13:00:37 GMT

Contemporary worship, as we know it, is like 25-30 years old at this point, yet it's still receiving this same criticism that it did at the beginning: "Isn't this just a concert but with the name Jesus added?" This time, the criticism is coming from a new generation. Joshua Abraham, a writer for Texas A&M's student newspaper, The Battalion," levels the "all concert, no substance" argument at the Breakaway, a contemporary concert meets Bible study on the A&M campus. It all raises uncomfortable questions about emotional manipulation, group think, and discipleship. It also makes one wonder, what is next for worship?

"Opinion: You don’t like Breakaway, you just like live music: Is supplemental practice enough for salvation?" by Joshua Abraham

https://thebatt.com/opinion/opinion-you-dont-like-breakaway-you-just-like-live-music/

"Contemporvent"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDNpscDSqpU&ab_channel=DUSTOFFTHEBIBLE

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Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 22:24:02 GMT

God upended the entire cosmos for love of us. What are we doing in respond? God suffers willingly, everyday, for love of us? Do we even come close to matching God with reciprocal passion? Romance may seem an odd angle to approach to the Letter to the Hebrews, but Scripture contains a long tradition of interpreting God's relationship with humanity in romantic terms. Approaching it this way, we have this lover willing to everything for us. Are we willing to do anything in response?

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Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 23:00:56 GMT

God isn't a character in the Book of Esther, yet it's all about doing what God wants. It's a realistic telling of uncertainty and needing to act, when you don't have all the confirmations that you want. God has arranged things in perfect order, but Esther and Mordecai can't see the full picture. They act. It works. God's people were saved, and God's will was done. We too live in that situation most of the time. We don't always know and have to discern as best we can.

We Don't Talk About Haman (Maccabeats)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjmLkEcaUAA&ab_channel=Maccabeats

Purim Song (Maccabeats)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgJInVvJSZg&ab_channel=MaccabeatsChannel

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How to Restart a Church: Love UMC, Baytown, TX

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 13:00:56 GMT

Love UMC, in Baytown, Texas, was born out of a sudden need for a United Methodist witness in a city that was once well served. Right now, they are a scrappy new church start that first met in a decked out barn and now meets at a local college and various locations around the community. At the core of their vision is an inclusive theology that leverages the power of diversity. Suburbs and suburban churches can quickly become tiny boxes of conformity and uniformity. Love UMC strikes out in a totally different direction. What if every kind of person could find a home in a church?

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Mark 9:30-27

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 21:29:19 GMT

Humans seem dead set on claiming every advantage possible. The greater the power that they have merely raises the stakes of what they will try to claim. God has literally all the power in the universe. Jesus as a God among us contained that power. How did he use it? He died for us rather than demanding a life of advantage.

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Mark 8:27-38

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 20:45:15 GMT

Jesus was just as human as we was divine. He was God among us, but he felt and had all the same instincts as every other human - including the instinct towards self preservation. In calling Peter, "Satan," we see some of that instinct bleeding through. Across the Gospels, we see Christ wrestle with this idea that he is to die That struggle opens up for us an opportunity to witness the true character of Christ, and to understand that God always invites rather than force.

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How to Restart a Church: What to do About Small Churches

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 13:00:45 GMT

Lovett Weems Jr. wrote a fascinating dive into the statics behind the growth in small churches. That is that 70% of all churches now have less than 100 regard attenders, and that the median church size in most denominations has shrunk. Many tiny churches have closed, but many have an opportunity to remain viable. The big question is how to do you do and remain actually focused of doing the work of the church. There is a real place for small, intimate, nimble churches who do vital ministry and let folks have a deeper connection with the people that they worship with. Sharing more than prayers is a way to start - coming together in networks of small churches to do more and take the edge off the isolation.

"5 Ways Forward for Very Small Congregations" by Lovett Weems Jr.

https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/6-ways-forward-for-very-small-congregations/

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Mark 7:24-37

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 23:00:24 GMT

The interaction between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 is profoundly baffling. He definitely call her a dog, and not even a nice kind of dog, and she then quips back at him. They depart friends? Her daughter certainly receives the healing love of God. So, what do we do with all of this? It is dark humor, or cultural bias, or an example of Christ growing as a human, or an example of the humility that we all should practice before God? Maybe, it's all of that. Whatever it is, it certainly shows the breadth of God's love.

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The Goodness of God: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 14:34:23 GMT

God's people (literally anyone who has claimed that title over the centuries) have a shockingly long history of hypocrisy. We seemingly live for the opportunity to judge others for their behavior even as we live in a wildly ungodly ways. Sure, our New Testament antagonists, the Pharisees, get called out for it here, but Christians picked up that mantle and ran with it in a 2,000 year long unbroken streak. Blessedly for us, God isn't like that. God sees your motivations and offers grace rather than judging you on your execution.

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How to Restart a Church: Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath and Her Farmastery

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 13:00:32 GMT

This week, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by the Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath to talk about amazing Farmastery (Farm + Monastery), Spring Forest, where she is the Abbess and now lead farm worker. All of this grows out of a lifetime of various streams come together for her from being a young girl finding peace on a neighbor's farm, to being a professor of evangelism leading innovative urban ministry, to meeting a Kenyan pastor who is also a farmer. It all leads to an open ended, open minded, creation and creator focused spiritual community that is part working CSA, part new monastic community, and part safe and healing space for anyone in need of such a thing.

Elaine's Website:

elaineaheath.org

Spring Forest's website:

springforest.org

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1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 19:15:22 GMT

The ancient temple in Jerusalem was more than a power symbol of God's importance. It contained at least a piece of God's presence. God is everywhere, but God also setup a specific outpost there in the Holy of Holies. In claiming a physical throne for God's self, God powerfully illustrates the true way of things. God reigns. God should be the one who reigns in our own lives as well.

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How to Restart a Church: One Year into Digital Ministry

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 13:00:46 GMT

We launched all our podcasting-y stuff around a year ago, and we've learned a lot in that time. We've figured out how to make content without overloading us. We learned that it's bad when all your studios are constantly over 90 degrees. We started making TikToks. And, we learned that we need to take the next leap into becoming a Christian media company.

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The Goodness of God: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 23:00:21 GMT

King Solomon ascend the throne and immediately impresses God. He choose wisdom to serve the nation rather than something that was good for himself. Solomon reaches this conclusion despite growing up during his family's darkest period. He overcomes his background and shows humility and wisdom - even before God grants his request.

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How to Restart a Church: Sanctuary Comics and Games

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 13:00:31 GMT

Village UMC wanted to do something new. Nash Carey had a whole model of ministry to reach a whole different group of folks by running a comic book store as ministry. They came together to open an Oklahoma City comic book store, owned by Village UMC, and operated by Nash. It's an amazing take on getting out beyond the church walls, taking something you know and love, and creating meaningful, Spirit filled, and life giving community. They clearly have been given great power, and they are definitely using responsibly.

"See inside the opening of Sanctuary Comics & Games second location in Oklahoma City." by Bryan Terry

https://www.oklahoman.com/picture-gallery/news/religion/2024/08/03/sanctuary-comics-games-opens-its-second-location-in-oklahoma-city/74640218007/

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2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 23:46:10 GMT

King screw up....royally....again. His actions and inactions lead to a rebellion, the death of two of his sons, and the slaughter of 20,000 of his own subjects. However, this story is as much about what doesn't happen as what does. God does reject David. If we extrapolate this out, God is a God of grace. We too can royally screw up, and God will still love us.

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How to Restart a Church: Church Insurance, the Unsexy Thing That's Kill You

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 13:00:10 GMT

Much like Heart Disease in the human population, the shocking rise in church insurance costs over the last four years is the unsexy and even boring sounding thing killing churches. A combination of inflation, a pandemic, climate change, and massive empty facility have combined into what the Associated Press describes as a "perfect storm" to make insuring churches next to impossible. Churches are regularly seeing a 4x increase in insurance costs - in just a single year. That dramatic a shift that quickly puts ministries and overall stability at risk.

"How a perfect storm sent church insurance rates skyrocketing" by Bob Smietana

https://apnews.com/article/church-insurance-skyrockets-storms-disasters-2035fbdbb8cff8e03b1efc8f49eb5c94

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2 Samuel 11:26-12:13

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 21:35:48 GMT

What does it mean to be like King David? In so many ways, King David and King Saul are a lot alike - military victorious, popular leaders, profoundly flawed. Both make decisions that turn out tragically for themselves and their families. The confrontation between the prophet Nathan and King David gives us a key window into the difference. When called out by God's voice box, David repents and finds redemption. This is something that we can all do.

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How to Restart a Church: St. Lydia's in Brooklyn

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 13:00:36 GMT

Pastor Trey and his son, Thomas, report back on their field trip to St. Lydia's in Brooklyn. It's a dinner church with a storefront location and a focus on intentional simplicity. They provide an amazing example of what can happen, when you focus on your context, don't try and solve all the world's problems, but find a lane where you can do something powerful.

Learn more about St. Lydia's:

https://stlydias.org/learn/

Support St. Lydia's:

https://stlydias.org/support/

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2 Samuel 11:1-15

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 23:00:47 GMT

King David messes up...royally. He peeps on a woman. He has his way with said woman. He monkeys with battlefield strategy to try and cover up his indiscretion. When that fails, he commits murder in the first degree. We can easily write this off as, "David is just bad, actually." This avoids the real question. How different are we from David?

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How to Restart a Church: What's Statistically Up with Nones?

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:00:13 GMT

Ryan Burge, on his Substack Graphs About Religion, did a statistical survey of nonreligious people in conjunction with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. It folks from outside of church world digging into what is up with folks who are outside of church world. Some of their findings should be deeply convicting. Most of the folks who left religion did so before the age of 25, and the main reasons that they cite for leaving is religious people not living up to the religion that they claim to profess. We've got some work to do to be better.

"We Asked the Nones a Bunch of Questions About Leaving Religion" by Ryan Burge

https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/we-asked-the-nones-a-bunch-of-questions

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2 Samuel 7:1-14

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 21:46:45 GMT

David wants to build a Temple. It seems like a good enough idea. It honors God. It's the kind of thing that kings do. God says, "No." It's a perfectly fine idea, but it drills down to one of the key factors in a life following God - doing God's will only. We can fairly easily tell the difference between morally right and morally wrong, at least most of the time. We don't always do it, but we know. However, a life of faith, like with David, means not just doing morally right things but doing the specific morally right thing that desires for us to do. The trick is discerning what that is.

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How to Restart a Church: Book Report on Seculosity by David Zahl

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 13:00:15 GMT

Christian writer, David Zahl, put out "Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What To Do About It" in 2019, and it dives deep into all the new, and bad, religions that have grown up to replace a wanning Christianity in the West. Also, he argues that most Christianity, at this point, barely resembles the grace filled power of the true faith. It's instructive for us all to give us focus and drive to not just keep churning out new laws for us all to fail to find justification within.

David Zahl's Bio:

https://mbird.com/staff/

Link to buy the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Seculosity-Parenting-Technology-Politics-Religion/dp/1506467644/

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2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 22:58:43 GMT

King David puts on quite a spectacle - dancing in the priestly equivalent of his underwear. People take notice. Some think better of him, and some think way less. If you choose to believe that David did this out of a genuine desire to please God (and God alone), we have a model to follow. Do your own version of dancing, and do it only for God.

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How to Restart a Church: The Well Church NYC

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 13:00:52 GMT

The Well Church NYC creates an fascinating blend of Christianity, wellness retreats, yoga, and meditation with an explicit to reach the average New Yorker that doesn’t know that they’re looking for anything resembling Jesus. For some, their specific blend of influences may feel worryingly out of bounds or pushing up against the boundaries, but for The Well, they feel at home in it. As we go into new areas and push new ideas, we all must wrestle with what is sacred and what is contextual.

RNS Article: A church where wellness meet spirituality (by Ellie Davis)

https://religionnews.com/2024/06/17/a-church-where-wellness-meets-spirituality/

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Mark 6:1-13

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 18:46:52 GMT

In scene one, Jesus gets rejected by his hometown crowd. In scene two, he sends the Disciples out with a warning that the same may happen to them. This pairing feels deliberate on the part of Mark, but it's not often how we talk about evangelism, ministry, or pushing forward the Kingdom of God. We make the sales pitch, "Get out there!" This is an important message, but we don't often pair it the way that Jesus did with the message, "It may be extremely difficult and painful."

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How to Restart a Church: Leading Churches to Make Big Change

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 13:00:26 GMT

We talked about churches as some of the most stuck in the mud organizations imaginable. So, what do we do, when they need to make huge changes to survive? Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily have built their careers leading churches to just that, and it involves getting as many voices in the room, actually reckoning with the problem, and sitting with it slightly too long to let the Spirit do the work through the congregation.

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Mark 5:21-43

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 01:52:59 GMT

Humanity seems set on inventing new and interesting ways to exclude people from the joys of community. In Christ's time, the focus was on "uncleanliness." In the 21st Century, we've moved on from that specific concern and simply came up with new ways. Either way, none of that stuff separates you from God's love, and Jesus didn't let it stop him from showing love. Perhaps, we should act likewise.

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How to Restart a Church: The Ten Commandments on the Classroom Wall

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:00:45 GMT

This is more ranty than usual. The State of Louisiana enacted a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be placed on the wall of all classrooms in Louisiana public schools (including public universities). Politics aside, if our goal as a faith is to engage and build relationships with an increasingly skeptical world, this will not reduce their skepticism. While more people will see the Word of God because of this, it seems unlikely to build positive relationships.

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2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 18:50:36 GMT

Hell may be other people, but so is the Kingdom of God. It can be far easier to endure sticks and stones that words uttered at you or whispered behind your back. Church brings with it all the problems of people and their imperfections. However, God intends us to gather people together to grow, share, and endure. Paul bore a lot pain in his ministry, but the pain that inspired him to write a letter was emotional - inflicted on him by the Corinthians. He manages to keep his heart open and challenges us to do the same.

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How to Restart a Church: The Tale of Game Church (Featuring Rev. Matt Stout)

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 23:00:11 GMT

Rev. Matt Stout, Dungeon Master and Pastor, of Game Church joins the show this week to tell the tale first hand of starting a Fresh Expression, in a game store, center around prayer and a legitimately good D&D campaign. It's all a place where he feels that he belongs. It's a world that he understands. So, he can uniquely reach people by connecting his love of Jesus, his love of people, and his love of rolling dice to tell a story with your friends.

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1 Samuel 15:34-16:13

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 23:00:22 GMT

Jesse leaves David out of the big meeting with the prophet. Samuel looks at David's oldest brother and thinks that he's seen God's king. God saw differently. God chose David. We have these visions of what Godly leadership must look like, but we should start looking at the leaders that God keeps choosing. They seldom fit the human envisioned model.

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How to Restart a Church: Fresh Expressions - Now for Laity

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 20:39:23 GMT

Fresh Expressions, creating small, focused, creative, meaningful pockets of religious community beyond the church walls isn't meant to be one more thing on the pastor's schedule. It's not meant to be pastor led at all. Normal lay folks should be one the ones taking lead, and the pastor serves as trainer, permission giver, and recruiter. This has deep roots both in New Testament history and in Methodist history. We are all meant to go and make disciples - in our dog parks, in our tattoo parlors, in our coffee shops.

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1 Samuel 8:4-11, 16-20

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:33:15 GMT

Even the good Biblical kings weren't great. The bad ones were truly terrible. In 1 Samuel 8, God and the prophet Samuel both know, deep down, that having a king won't go well. They warn the people. The people still want a king. God intended for it to just be God and the people - with little separation. The people wanted something else. So often, we do too. We appoint people to tell us what God wants. This can go well, but often, like all our friends named Ahaziah, it goes badly. We all need to directly seek God and hold one another accountable.

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How to Restart a Church: Farms and Dungeons and Dragons

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 13:00:17 GMT

It's easy to get a clear image in your mind of what a church is. It's got a sanctuary, sound system, parking lot, classrooms, kitchen, kids area, youth area, and if you're really ambitious, more activity space. in those spaces, we do the churchy things: worship services, Bible Studies, small groups (or whatever cool rebranding that you've given them), meals, meetings. We build more boxes. We repeat the activities. Some glad morning, Christ returns. A growing movement of folks are asking the important questions, does church have to look like this, and do we have to keep doing the same things? In trying to answer that question, a pastor in Georgia is running a Christian themed Dungeons and Dragons group that building meaningful community, and a group in North Carolina are running a farm as a farm, as an intentional Christian community, and as a same place for various members of their community to feel at home.

"Game Church grows connections, shares Jesus"

https://www.sgaumc.org/advnewsdetail/game-church-grows-connections-shares-jesus-18348448

"With strawberries and goats, a ‘farmastery’ reaches out to its neighbors"

https://religionnews.com/2024/05/30/picking-strawberries-and-feeding-goats-a-farmastery-reaches-out-to-its-neighbors/

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Mark 2:23-3:6

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 23:00:14 GMT

As humans, we like simplicity and black and white choices. Do this, and it's good. Don't do that because it's bad. We turn the faith into that too. God clearly says do this, and God clearly says don't do that. It doesn't actually work that way, but we sure want it to. In reality, Jesus lived the spirit behind the Law - love God and love neighbor, and when letter of the Law conflicted with its spirit, he chose love.

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How to Restart a Church: Creative Church Reuse (A Cautionary Tale)

Fri, 31 May 2024 13:00:06 GMT

Churches, generally, have WAY more space than they need. We invested heavily in real estate for a hundred years, and for a lot of us, that investment didn't pay off. So what do we do with it all? Well, there are a lot of organizations literally dying for want of space, so if you invite in the right partner, tens of thousands of square feet can get re-deployed for the Kingdom. However, as with all relationships, you've got to love your new partner and stay in love with your new partner. Otherwise, it can all fall apart.

Near Chicago, a Lutheran church finds new life at the YMCA, by Bob Smietana

https://religionnews.com/2024/04/19/near-chicago-a-lutheran-church-finds-new-life-at-the-ymca/

The Mix at White Rock UMC

https://wrumc.org/the-mix

Spring Community Church

https://www.springcc.org/shsucharterschool

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John 3:1-17

Tue, 28 May 2024 22:44:37 GMT

Nicodemus gets given one of Christ's all time greatest lines, John 3:16. Modern Christians have adopted it as a go to verse for understanding and hope. God loves. God moved first on our behalf. It's not clear how far Nicodemus gets down his faith journey. He's certainly not Christ's enemy, but he's no outspoken defender either. It may be an unsatisfying ending for such a great line, but it is a realistic faith journey. We don't always get the clean resolutions that we seek.

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How to Restart a Church: Campus Ministry and Gen Z (featuring Rev. Kyle Tremblay)

Fri, 24 May 2024 13:00:23 GMT

Campus ministry can no longer just be Youth Group 2,0. A lot of the folks arriving on college campus never went to Youth Group 1.0. We need new models, and one pastor doing just that is Rev. Kyle Tremblay of the Wesley Foundation at Lamar University. He joins Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily to talk about how to build a truly inclusive space, demonstrate love that invites, and ministry with Gen Z.

Find out more about the Wesley Foundation at Lamar University and support its ministry:

https://www.thewesleyfoundation.com/

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Acts 2:1-21

Tue, 21 May 2024 23:00:23 GMT

We seem like to act like we have two truly important holiday, Christmas and Easter, but in reality, we have a third: Pentecost. The decent of the Holy Spirit kicks off the era that we still in live, where the Holy Spirit moves among us, binds us together, and empowers us to do something. It's an amazing gift that we got that day - one that we continue to have. We should value it and us it accordingly.

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How to Restart a Church: Faith Contributes to Human Flourishing

Fri, 17 May 2024 13:00:21 GMT

The Human Flourishing study follows 200,000 people across a couple of dozen countries, and they plan to do check in with the same people for years to come. As the name implies, the study wants to capture how people feel about their lives and what factors influence that feeling. This first run of the study found something interesting about religious life. Being a part of a religious community measurable improved the sense of flourishing in those studied. It's almost like living as God intended has a real impact on people lives.

Here is a link to the summary of the study:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/642680/global-study-aims-uncover-humans-flourish.aspx

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Acts 1:1-11

Tue, 14 May 2024 23:00:17 GMT

Christ's ascension changed the nature of God's work in the world. The Disciples could no longer observe what was happening. They had to shift to taking a much more active role. That's still the case. God sends us power, grace, and ability, but we have to do something with it. If you feeling like something is missing in your faith life, ask yourself, how are you putting that faith into action?

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How to Restart a Church: The New Frontier of Campus Ministry

Fri, 10 May 2024 13:00:35 GMT

Campus ministry, like a lot of things in former times, had an understood model. Student would need something like a youth group 2.0 to be a part of during college to hopefully prevent a break in their Christian journey. This has changed. The bulk of students now arrive on college campuses without an previous church experience, and if anything, on a more amorphous spiritual journey. This will need new models for working with college students, but it's also a bellwether for what church as a whole will need to become.

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John 15:9-17

Wed, 08 May 2024 02:28:20 GMT

To call love a "commandment" should probably means something more to us than it seems to. In the Old Testament, a quick way to become a hero was to die for the sake of following God's law. If all of that love got summed up in a command to love, do we treat it with the safe seriousness? Would be die for the sake of love? We like to wave God's instructions at others, but will we take on the most core commandment ourselves?

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How to Restart a Church: The Denomination that Lived

Sun, 05 May 2024 20:14:42 GMT

The postponed 2020 United Methodist General Conference being held in 2024 just ended and A LOT happened. The headlines most places focus on the end of the same-sex marriage ban, the lifting of the ban on ordaining LBTBQIA+ folks , and a more regional structure. It's more than that though. It's a move a way from a rules based way of living together to hopeful one more full of grace, peace, and flexibility.

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1 John 4:7-21

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 23:00:52 GMT

Love. Love. Love. Love. This text repeats the word love to a comical degree. It's like every other word, but the repetition makes the point that love sits at the core of it all - literally. At the center of creation sits a being described as the motivating force of love. God is love. Love has such power because it carries with it the very power of God. Love is a verb. It motivates and moves. Love is also universal, so all of humanity has known some of God in their lives. We just need eyes to it, and hearts open to share the love of God with others.

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How to Restart Church: Hello from UM General Conference

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 23:00:20 GMT

Pastor Trey is in Charlotte, North Carolina for the United Methodist 2020 General Conference being held in 2024. That is its actual name. One of the hot topics that the delegates are working on is worldwide regionalization. This sounds like some sort of bureaucratic shifting, but it actually a fundamental reordering of the denomination toward contextual ministry across its global reach. It's a way to let Africans be contextual to Africa, and Americans to contextual to Americans. It leans into a future where the local needs define what ministry looks like.

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John 10:11-18

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 02:50:21 GMT

Sheep die for the sake of the shepherd's way of life. Similarly, kings are served. They aren't servants. Jesus turns all of those things on their heads. In being the Good Shepherd, he turns shepherding on its head just as he turns kingship on its head. We should at some point start conceptualizing a better reality than they one we create for ourselves. The one that God creates for us was made for us by the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

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How to Restart a Church: Interview with Paul Nixon

Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:46:28 GMT

This week Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by author and speaker Paul Nixon. He spends his life helping churches find new life, get weird, and get going. Just this week, he put out a totally revised version of his book "I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church," because he wrote the first edition in 2008 and clearly saw that we live in a totally different world now. His work and this conversation are great reminders that modern ministry has to be specific to a context and a mission field. One size no longer fits all.

I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church:

https://www.amazon.com/I-Refuse-Lead-Dying-Church-ebook/dp/B0CYMCTD96/

Weird Church:

https://www.amazon.com/Weird-Church-Welcome-Twenty-First-Century/dp/0829820345/

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Luke 24:36b-48

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 23:00:00 GMT

A lot of energy gets poured into declaring Scripture super important. It is, but what if you have a hard time connecting with what it contains? As with a lot of things, you're in good company. The Disciples had been hearing endlessly from Christ, before he died and rose, about the Scripture surrounding his journey. Only now, staring the resurrection in the face do they have a mind to contain it. Connecting with Scripture, like so many things in the life of faith, is a journey but one that we should at least be actively working on.

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How to Restart a Church: AI Sermon Writing

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 21:07:20 GMT

ChatGPT and its friends the other Large Language Models promise a lot of things and have a near religious fervor in the tech sector. They offer a way to lift the burden of creative work with just a simple prompt. The writing part of church is a huge sink of time. Could AI be the answer to massively overworked preachers? No. Not if we want to actually make real connections with real people.

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John 20:19-31

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 05:00:22 GMT

Thomas gets the bad reputation, but all four Gospel lay out the elaborate series of proofs that Christ offers after the Resurrection. We get these windows into the Disciples processing it in real time, and even with literal Jesus literally in front of them, they struggle. Jesus chides them by blessing those who don't have such direct access - us. Rather than judging our doubts, Jesus blesses that coming to faith can be a difficult journey. Maybe, we should take the same approach with each other.

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How to Restart a Church: The Attention Economy

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 14:05:12 GMT

We live in a world where human attention is the most valuable commodity on the planet. Many trillion dollar corporations derive their income solely off capturing your attention and selling the data it generates to others. This has only made the church growth question harder. We're not only up against the normal distractions of life, but Meta, Google, etc. and their never ending drive to hoover up at much of our time and attention as possible.

Overview of the Attention Economy and Addiction Mechanics:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia

Human Attention is now more valuable than oil:

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/05/06/the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-no-longer-oil-but-data

Netflix declares competition with sleep:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/18/netflix-competitor-sleep-uber-facebook

Center for Humane Technology:

https://www.humanetech.com/

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John 20:1-18

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 00:55:09 GMT

John relays one of the most important events in human history, the rising of Christ from the grave and the defeat of all the cosmic forces that put him there, with a series of intimate and personal interactions. Two men race to his the empty tomb. A woman weeps in a garden, and Jesus calls her by name. This intimacy is also about the power of God. God is not a distance ruler, although God has more power any king. In God's infinity, God has infinite time to call us each by name.

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How to Restart a Church: Part Time Clergy and Lean Ministry

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 13:00:44 GMT

Money holds back a lot of great church ideas. The costs of staff and buildings make church way less nimble than it could be. You might have a great idea, but if it can't help with the cost problem, you might not be able to do it. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily look at an article on the joy, health, and nimbleness that from a shift to part time clergy. Could it be a healthier model for all involved?

"Full-time ministry drains too many clergy and church budgets. Part-time pastors can help." by Jeffery MacDonald

https://religionnews.com/2024/03/14/full-time-ministry-drains-too-many-clergy-and-church-budgets-part-time-pastors-can-help/

"Fresh expressions needed in funding, too," by Jim Patterson

https://www.umnews.org/en/news/fresh-expressions-needed-in-funding-too

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Mark 11:1-11

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

The week leading up to Jesus's death on a cross is one of wild extremes - the height of entering in triumph, the ignominy of a cross. It's meant to remind us of the depth of God's love for and God's fundamental ability to empathize with us, God's creation. It also shows us just how all encompassing God's grace is. Christ went through absolute horrors on behalf of the crowd that subjected him to it.

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How to Restart a Church: The Cove (An Amazing Christian Night Club)

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 13:00:09 GMT

The future of the Church is happening in a Night Club in Nashville. Christians in their late teens, twenties, and thirties are dancing together, praying together, and experiencing tremendous joy. This amazing thing is being put on by a group of seven entrepreneurial and deeply faithful men, who seem to know what the human soul longs for and what makes a good Night Club experience. The Cove can be instructive for anyone trying to make church happen. Stick to what you know. Recognize that folks ain't coming into our buildings. Create an opportunity for genuine connection.

Associated Press article about the Cove:

https://apnews.com/article/religion-christian-dance-club-youth-nashville-da3ed45aa9ee39b1114ff132515a960e

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John 12:20-33

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 23:57:09 GMT

In the game of telephone that plays out in John 12, God ends it by speaking directly. As, Peter and James and John in the Transfiguration, now, a whole crowd gets the literal voice from Heaven. And, the story ends with them all getting it! Right? Not so much. One of the struggles that we all run into in a path to belief is a desire to God to hit us over the head with it, and then, still missing it when God does.

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How to Restart a Church: (Part2) Healing and Thriving after a Church Split

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:00:53 GMT

Pastor Trey continues his conversation with Rev. Raegan Seaton, Senior Pastor of Montgomery UMC, had the journey that her church is on after a painful church split. What they have found is that by leaning into casting as wide a net as possible, being as inclusive as possible, and making sure that everyone knows that they are welcome, God is opening doors that they never thought possible.

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Ephesians 2:1-10

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:00:56 GMT

The free gift of God's grace is an incredibly powerful offer. We know that we need to do better, but better always exists just out of reach. With God's grace, we can truly heal. It helps too if we're honest about our need for God's grace. It shows others that they are not alone and truly what God's power can do in their lives.

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1 Corinthians 1:18-15

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 14:00:36 GMT

The Corinthians seemed to find Paul lacking - not in understanding of God but in the cultural markers of success. They go one step further and question is calling because he just doesn't look right to them. This dangerous logic is something that we keep doing today. We like leaders who make the numbers go up, but the wisdom of God works in way beyond our understanding. What looks foolish to us may be the very power and presence of God.

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How to Restart a Church: The "He Gets Us" Superbowl Ads (Repost)

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 22:11:32 GMT

(Editor's Note: We had a posting issue with the original version of this episode, so here is the corrected version)

If you like 123 million of your follow earthlings watched the Kansas City Taylor Swifts defeat some other team, you probably saw an ad for Jesus that centered on "He Gets Us." This is part of a many tens of millions of dollars effort to rebrand Jesus as not a hater. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily delve into who made these ads, how people react to them, and what they tell us about the attractional model of getting folks to church.

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How to Restart a Church: Healing and Thriving after a Church Split (Part 1)

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 21:56:01 GMT

Pastor Trey is joined by Rev. Raegan Seaton, Senior Pastor of Montgomery UMC, to share her experience of leading a church after a close vote split the church in two. There certainly have been trials and tribulations, but the core of the Montgomery UMC story is one of hope, of healing, and of what God can do in our midst, when you can only move forward.

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How to Restart a Church: The Church Abandoning Public Square

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:00:55 GMT

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily reflect on the editorial in Comment Magazine, "Church, Where Are You?" by Anne Snyder, and how folks feel that the Church has abandoned it's role in uniting and brining depth to existence. Folks are finding it in other places because the human need for those things is part of God's design. The Church is failing at the other part of the divine plan - that the Church would answer those needs.

"Church, Where Are You?" by Anne Snyder

https://comment.org/church-where-are-you/

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Romans 4:13-25

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 21:40:13 GMT

in trying to pull together the totality of the God and humanity story into one 16 chapter letter, Paul sets up Abraham as the example of what righteousness through faith looks like. It wasn't what Abraham did that really counted. Abraham, like us, got counted as righteous (despite not actually being righteous) because he chose to believe that God could do the impossible. For him, God then did the impossible. The 100 year old man becomes the father of many nations. God can and will do the impossible for us as well - make us whole and heal our world.

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Genesis 9:8-17

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 02:32:28 GMT

The story of Noah's Ark is true if you really think about it. Sure, we love the cute animals. The giraffe's head peaks up above the roof. It's so adorable. We leave out the millions of dead bodies floating the water around the ark. You can read it as history, but that starts to call into question God's goodness. Or, you can read it, way less literally, as a hyperbolic parable about human frailty and God's mercy.

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How to Restart a Church: Interview with Tod Bolsinger

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 00:00:35 GMT

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by the amazing Tod Bolsinger, whose book Canoeing the Mountains has become one of the leading texts to teach pastors to lead effective change. He gives insight into helping congregation cope with change, how to preserve through the change process, and how to face the fact that we are all working in a world that we were never prepared for. We have to lead change because for 1,700 years, the church played on home turf. We don't anymore. We need new types of leaders, and Tod's vocation has become equipping those leaders.

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Mark 9:2-9

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:03:49 GMT

No, Christ's transfiguration on a mountain top, long ago, wasn't a sitcom, but like a sitcom, how it plays out should show us how real life plays out. Jesus doesn't stay up there. He doesn't stay all glowed up. Instead, he goes back to looking the way he did and plunges back into the grit of life. The complete grandeur of God suffer alongside us. We too don't stay on mountain tops. We end up in valleys. Christ showed us that it be like that sometimes and gives us strength to make it through.

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How to Restart a Church: (Movie Report) The Bubble: Golf, Booze & Guns: Inside Boomer Paradise

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 00:00:21 GMT

Imagine a world where there is nothing but retirees as far as the eye can see. That's the world of The Villages, the Florida retirement community that is also one of the fastest growing municipalities in the country. The Bubble by filmmaker Valerie Blankenbyl delves into this surreal world and finds what lies at the hurt of the phenomenon: a sense that society has left them behind.

While a world full of retirees describes The Villages, it also describes a good number of our churches. We too have become a haven for an older population that the world forgets or rejects. The question becomes, not just how to be become younger but how to be multigenerational?

Watch the full film for free here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp0nqJ1yrrg&ab_channel=VICE

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1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:00:09 GMT

Paul didn't have the luxury of massive buildings or cultural cache. Instead, he had to reach people by actually getting to know them, building relationships, and showing them the love of God. In an era, where our own culture cache ain't doing what it used to, maybe, we too should embark on the remarkably simple endeavor of loving people where they are and seeing what God does with it.

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How to Restart a Church: The Unwords of Church

Sat, 03 Feb 2024 00:00:06 GMT

All groups develop their own insider language. In technical fields, this can be super useful. Why say the whole thing, when everyone knows what you're talking about? In church, this just makes things even more inaccessible to folks who might not know that they belong. How we talk can play a huge role on whether someone will see us as humans and feel like that can be a part of what God is doing.

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Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Prophets know God's truth. We are told to head them. We tend to ignore them, and in doing so, get the order of the universe completely out of whack. Prophet don't speak their words. The good ones speak for God, and God should be at the center of everything that we do. In a world absent a singular prophet, we must first choose to follow in all that we do and, then, discern what that actually means.

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How to Restart a Church: Dr. Ashley Boggan

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 00:00:45 GMT

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily welcome Dr. Ashley Boggan, General Secretary for the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History. She's an expert in who the people called Methodist have been in the past and through the rhyming ways of history has a vision for how it can shape who the church can become. She presents a clear thesis. John Wesley chose to be "vile," to go places that he'd never thought that he'd go. Maybe, we should get back to being vile as well.

Amazing free Methodist History curriculum: https://umhistoryhub.teachable.com/

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Jonah 3:1-10

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Dr. Ashley Boggan, from the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History to talk about Jonah, our Biblical prophet of fishy fame. Jonah's words shake loose change in Nineveh, but he wants to mad about the whole experience. Accountability can be incredibly important. Nineveh gets changed by it. Jonah wants all that grace from God for himself.

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How to Restart a Church: Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Sat, 20 Jan 2024 00:00:38 GMT

61 years later, Martin Luther King Jr.'s challenge to white clergy still rings true and still stings. It can be all too easy to push away the problems of the world, when those problems don't impact you directly. It can also be difficult to discern the right way to actually make an impact and when is the right time to get run out of town for standing up for what is right. It involves living into a strange tension between activism and cowardice and loving people so that can here the challenge to change.

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1 Samuel 3:1-20

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Calling gets complicated in the real world. We like the stories of God calling folks in clear, often audible ways. It doesn't work that way for most people. We like to think about how God has a special task for us. It sounds great. It all gets a lot more difficult, when we then need to be faithful to that task. Samuel and Eli show us those complications. A young man needs help to understand his calling. An older man has to face that he's missed the mark.

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How to Restart a Church: Can You Really Change an Institution?

Sat, 13 Jan 2024 00:00:52 GMT

Karen Swallow Prior, a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an opinion piece for Religion News Service, comparing organizational and institutional change with romantic relationships. You shouldn't get into a relationship thinking that you're going to change someone. That is great human relationship advice, but does it hold true for how we should approach the Church?

Read the article here:

https://religionnews.com/2023/11/20/dont-go-into-a-relationship-or-institution-thinking-you-can-change-them/

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Matthew 2:1-12

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:36:50 GMT

The story of the Magi (AKA the Three Wisemen, AKA the Three Kings, AKA Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar) matters profoundly because it brings the Gentiles into the fold. Whatever their names were and how ever many of them there were, they set out on a dangerous and uncertain journey to worship a king. They were motivated in the extreme by what they saw. May we all respond the same way.

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Luke 2:22-40

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 00:00:49 GMT

Anna and Simeon see what God is doing, when it doesn't look like anything at all. Infants are born somewhere in the world every 4-ish seconds. Yet, Simeon and Anna had profound religious experiences encountering the infant Christ. They could see through the unlikely visual to the deeper more profound movement of the Spirit. May we all have the same eyes to see the movement of God in even the most unexpected wrappers.

Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily have big plans for 2024. It's time to put some ideas into action!

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Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 15:19:29 GMT

A lot of things can never go back to the way that they were, but our relationship with God can. God's grace is more than a simple pardon. It's an opportunity for complete restoration. This sits at the core of who God is - across both the Old and New Testaments. So, this Christmas, we celebrate God's gracious story.

Also, as this is the last show of 2023, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily run down the top 5 things that they learned about how to restart a church in the 21st century. The answers may just surprise you.

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Mark 1:1-8

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 21:23:22 GMT

Sometimes, God changes things all at once. We wait and wait and wait and think nothing will ever change. Then, in an instant, God changes everything. The arrival of Christ is one of those moments. God's people waited for hundreds of years, with no sign of change. Then Christ shows up, and the world shifted on its axis.

Also, Pew Research put out a study looking at new ways to talk about spirituality and religion. Turns out, the vast majority of people are still spiritual in some way, shape, form. This shifts what it means to have faithful conversations with an increasingly non-religious world.

Pew Research Center: Spirituality Among Americans

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/12/07/spirituality-among-americans/

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Isaiah 64:1-9

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 21:25:37 GMT

God's people arrive back in Jerusalem from exile, and all is not well. The city lies in ruins, and even though they're back, it still fees like God has turned God's back on them. They weren't the first or last group of people to experience this particular kind of disappointment. You think the one thing will make all well, but it doesn't turn out that way. It does work out for them, eventually, but we get this honest and reliable reaction first.

And, when we find ourselves in those kinds of places or working to rebuild a church (and automatically find ourselves in that kind of place, we have to take care of ourselves. That way, we can care for others.

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Matthew 25:31-46

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 20:48:13 GMT

At the end of Matthew 25, Jesus portrays the judgement as a separation between those who served others and those who didn't. This is also a way of looking at faith. We are meant to have a faith that motivates, that produces action, that leads us to care for the people that God cares for.

Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily watched the Righteous Gemstones, and while, yes, this is perhaps an untraditional pieces of media for a show that opens with Scripture, it something that should deeply challenge anyone in the work of growing a church. Whose glory are you working for (says the rated TV-MA send up of modern church)?

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Matthew 25:14-30

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

The Parable of the Talents applies to humans and churches alike. God has poured out incredible gifts, and we keep not using them for God's purpose. Then, we wonder why things aren't going well. We have to move beyond scarcity to see the abundance of God's gifts.

Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by the crew from Grace UMC in Palestine, TX, Pastor Jimmy Calvert and Sister Brandy Dudley, to hear about their ways of reaching new folks and inviting them in.

Check out more of Pastor Jimmy and Sister Brandy's work:

Facebook.com/PalestineGraceChurch

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Matthew 25:1-13

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:25 GMT

Christians sure can be quick to jump to the end times' talk. Just about any turn of the news cycle can promote someone from some corner of the Christian world to declare the end neigh. Is this a healthy way to live? Is that how Christ wants us to be ready for his eventual return? Maybe, not.... Instead, maybe, we should use the reality of an unknown end, at an unknown movement, as motivation for discipleship and being a church worthy of the name.

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Matthew 23:1-12

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 00:00:03 GMT

Live your faith genuinely - not for show. It can be easy, when you live everything else for the likes, to add your faith life into that column. We are not the first people to have this issue, and why you're living your faith may not change your actions. God care about your motivation.

Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Pastor Robert Burke to talk about his life as the pastor of a new church start in Amarillo, Texas that may be born out of a denominational crisis but seeks to be a faith home for everyone.

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Matthew 22:34-46

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 23:00:10 GMT

We call it the love commandment, love God and love neighbor, because its a, you know, commandment. Jesus claims his authority as God among us, and says, what his audience already knew. God loves, so we love. This should be of fundamental orientation - the way that we direct our entire existence.

Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily watched the movie Jesus Revolution, about the birth of the Jesus Movement back in the 1960s and 1970s, to maybe see if we are seeing history repeat itself.

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Luke 12:13-21, 31-34

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 23:00:00 GMT

For generations, we've been sold the idea that the stuff that we accumulate will mean something down the road. We can buy for it a high price, keep it, and sell it for a higher price. This process will bring us peace and security - except when it doesn't. This isn't God's priority for us. Instead, God call us to invest in God's Kingdom - our relationships in the world.

Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Luke Edwards, Associate Director for Church Development for the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, who also has a new book out called Becoming Church: A Trail Guide for Starting Fresh Expressions, to talk about fresh ways that churches can invest in the relationship building process.

Check out more of Luke's work: https://www.thelisteningchurch.com/

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Exodus 32:1-14

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 21:56:51 GMT

How are you doing in this stressed out world? Is it crushing you, mind, body, and soul? The story of the Golden Calf is certainly about idolatry, but the Hebrew people were also incredibly traumatized and stressed. Like the rest of us, they weren't exactly at their best. This doesn't make idolatry okay, but it does mean we need to be cognizant what's going on and find ways to help us all be a little less stressed.

Also, the Associated Press did a huge project on Nones around the world. It reveals a lot of the places where organized religion has fallen short of the mark and that spirituality remains a strong part of the human experience.

https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-nones/index.html#:~:text=These%20so%2Dcalled%20%E2%80%9Cnones%22,numbers%20of%20people%20are%20secular.

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Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 22:47:36 GMT

The Ten Commandments have two sections - how to love God and how to love neighbor. Keep to the love neighbor section is that we have to actually mean it, when we love neighbor. It's not enough to simply not kill them or to avoid taking their stuff. We cannot let even a psychological barrier come up between us and our neighborhood (even in a age of shocking levels of polarization).

Also, the worship songs that we sing matter. The example of Porter's Gate shows us that not all our songs produce good fruit for folks suffering from mental illness, and we can and should do better.

https://religionnews.com/2023/09/21/the-porters-gate-album-bridges-gap-between-mental-health-and-faith/

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Acts 19:23-41

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 20:05:06 GMT

Christianity went from a ragtag group of brave missionaries to a global force within a few hundred year. It totally transformed the religious landscape of the Greco-Roman world. Certainly, the Holy Spirit was the wind in their sails, but it involved a lot of direction action and risk taking by people like Paul, who took the leap and went on the journey. This early Christian way of life hit a roadblock, when it started pushing up against economic interests in Ephesus, but this scene in the Theatre of Ephesus only draw out how God's power made this whole thing happen.

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Matthew 20:1-16

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 23:00:56 GMT

Humans crave hierarchies. We like winners, losers, and getting a higher status than the next guy. We want exclusive villas at exclusive festivals. We want to rise up a ladder. God doesn't seem to value any of that. Instead, the first are last, and the last are first. Everyone gets the same reward in God's Kingdom. You cannot buy a higher tier. For churches, this means that all can serve, and all can be served. Church is ministry "with" not ministry "to."

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Exodus 14:19-31

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 23:00:16 GMT

The escaping Israelites find themselves between an advanced military and the ocean. They probably would have rather had a rock and hard place. Yet, God shows up in a reality bending way, shifting an entire sea to create a way. That same way making ability is our lives as well, but as churches, we have to learn to use it faithfully and responsibility.

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Matthew 18:15-20

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:10:55 GMT

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Shawn Winburn and Shaun Sandefur from the Spiritual But Not Religious podcast to deep dive on church conflict, how it can bleed into everyone's spiritual life, and how to make church more a place for more kinds of people. Do you want more young folks in your faith community? Shawn and Shaun do a show on that, and the answer may surprise you! Actually be a decent and humble church.

Want to hear Shawn and Shaun's show?

https://www.youtube.com/@SpiritualNotReligiousPodcast

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Exodus 3:1-15

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 03:16:55 GMT

In Scripture Talk:

Moses gets God's name, and God gets to work kicking Pharaoh's butt using Moses as the mouthpiece. Exodus isn't a hero's journey. It's God thoroughly wiping the floor with Pharaoh and remaining present with God's people from that moment forward. We should remember that we have power in our corner too.

In How to Restart a Church

The church may be back from the pandemic, but pastors are not. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily look at Alexander Lang's blog post on why he left the ministry, see how it resonates with their own experience, and consider what to do about the great pastor resignation.

Alexander Lang's Post: https://www.restorativefaith.org/post/departure-why-i-left-the-church

Summary of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research Study: https://religionnews.com/2023/09/05/giving-is-up-at-churches-and-people-are-back-but-clergy-are-thinking-about-quitting/

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Romans 12:1-8

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 23:05:54 GMT

Paul calls us to give the totality of ourselves over to God and use the gifts that God gives us to serve God's people. He sets this up as the true way to respond to God's grace, yet how many of us can confidently declare that we actually do it? Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily take on this challenge and explore what it means for us and our churches.

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Genesis 45:1-15

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 23:12:19 GMT

Joseph forgives his brothers, breaks a vicious cycle, and replaces it with a virtuous one. The whole family of God could have died out and may have deserved that fate. Instead, Joseph, and, by proxy, God provides proving that forgiveness gives life, and God's provision can come from the most unexpected places. This resonates deeply with Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily's experience of life and ministry.

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1 Kings 19:9-18

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:24:14 GMT

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Rev. Katie Newsome, Pastor and Executive Direction of Union Coffee in Dallas to talk through how Elijah (and all of us) are not failures in the eyes of God, when we don't live up to some earthly standard of success and to dive deep into the joys of a coffee shop meets church.

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Matthew 14:13-21

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 01:19:08 GMT

Jesus feed the 5,000 shows up in all four Gospels, and it's a wonderful display of how God can break the rules of reality to take care of God's people. It can work on another level too. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily see also the challenge for all of us to be a part of God's miracle of provision. Also, Pastor Emily is famous now or at least a church she works with made the news for its work of restarting in a new and modern way.

https://religionnews.com/2023/08/07/left-behind-by-conservatives-texas-towns-united-methodists-charter-a-new-church/

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Romans 8:26-39

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 21:45:41 GMT

God loves us. God loves us. God loves us. God's love is the most powerful force in the universe. God makes sure that nothing stands in its way for those who want it in their lives. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily look at both sides of that love - how it can be so freeing for us and how it should effect the way we approach others. Also, they talk about the joy of alternative takes on Christian community from their trip to Union Coffee and the Taste Project.

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Matthew 13:24-30, 3643

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:40:05 GMT

We want God's victory to appear crystal clear, all the time. We want to feel like we are winning, and, if we're honest, we've been guilty of liking when others lose. This isn't what faith or following God means. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily remind us that faith means believing when it's not obvious and that God wants everyone in God's Kingdom.

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Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 20:39:48 GMT

Freely choosing to opt in or opt out is at the heart of any healthy relationship. The same goes for our relationship with God. Pastor Trey, Pastor Emily, and Anthony lay out that part of God's goodness is our ability to exercise our own free will.

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Romans 7:15-25a

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 20:30:52 GMT

Evil is indeed a thing, and we, as individuals and as larger groups, interact with it and from time to time participate in it. Pastor Trey, Pastor Emily, and Anthony connect Paul's words of challenge and encouragement to our need for grace and the reality of God's grace.

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