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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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January 2014

January 08, 2014

“Do not believe every spirit” (1 John 4)

At the basilica's Monday mass, the epistle reading was from 1 John 4, which includes:...

January 06, 2014

“I am who I am” (#sermon #podcast)

In my sermon this weekend, I preached about Moses' encounter with God at the burning...

January 06, 2014

The difference between spiritual purity and moral cleanliness

Leviticus 10:10 says, "You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between...

December 2013

December 30, 2013

How the culture wars have bastardized the concept of holiness

One of the most obnoxious things about the culture wars is the way that they...

December 25, 2013

Solidarity: the meaning of Christmas

Emmanuel. God with us. That is the meaning of Christmas. Jesus was born to show...

December 01, 2013

What legacy have we inherited? Reflections on “12 Years A Slave.”

My wife and I watched "12 Years A Slave" this weekend. Needless to say, it...

November 2013

November 29, 2013

Eucharistic life (more than just “being thankful”)

It seemed appropriate to write about the word Eucharist since it means "thanksgiving" in Greek....

November 23, 2013

Are you a pilgrim or a tourist? (Hebrews 11:8-16) #sermon #podcast

Growing up in the church, I would often hear the phrase, "We're just pilgrims passing...

November 22, 2013

My duty to the Bible’s living interpretive tradition

I had a good discussion yesterday with my pastor covenant group about our discernment process...

November 20, 2013

Justice of the heart and Frank Schaefer

This week, the United Methodist Church put a pastor on trial named Frank Schaefer for...

November 01, 2013

Budgeting as an act of social justice

It's stewardship season in many churches around the country. As my friend Jason Micheli wrote,...

October 2013

October 30, 2013

Mark Driscoll’s “working class” bloody Old Testament Jesus

I'm not a pacifist or a pansy (other than the fact that I'm not very...

October 23, 2013

Wisdom is to rest in Jesus

At our church staff meeting today, we looked at this reading from Matthew 11:25-30: At...

October 19, 2013

“Seek the welfare of the city to which I’ve sent you” (sermon transcript + #podcast)

Last Sunday was week two of our sermon series "By the rivers of Babylon: how...

October 18, 2013

Isaiah 7 & 53: should prophecies be prooftexts?

My great-grandfather Luther Weigle [pictured here] was the dean of Yale Divinity School and chair...

October 17, 2013

Singing songs of Zion in Babylon

For the month of October, our LifeSign service at Burke United Methodist Church is journeying...

October 15, 2013

The painter’s studio: a metaphor for thinking about worship

I'm at the semiannual Five Talent Academy gathering. It's an initiative of the Virginia Methodist...

October 07, 2013

The God of no compromise and the government shutdown

For many of us who grew up evangelical, the word "compromise" has always been a...

October 02, 2013

Rick Joyner, Larry Huch, and false prophecy

There's one thing that makes me madder at God than anything else. It's actually not...

September 2013

September 30, 2013

C.S. Lewis on loving God through loving people

For our sermon series Love Actually, which we wrapped up this past weekend, we've been...

September 25, 2013

The God who wants us to be friends #sermon #podcast

For the second weekend of our sermon series "Love Actually," we talked about philia, the...

September 20, 2013

“For the glory of Your name” (Psalm 79:9)

For about the past year, God has been giving me verses from psalms to memorize...

September 18, 2013

The God who wants us to be family #podcast

We've been preaching a sermon series at Burke United Methodist Church called "Love actually" (titled...

September 14, 2013

What does Pope Francis mean by telling atheists to “abide by their own consciences”?

Well Pope Francis probably made some more Christians angry this week with a 2500 word...

August 2013

August 26, 2013

How the despised ones bring everything to nothing (1 Cor 1:28)

"He has chosen the lowly things of this world: the despised ones and those who...

August 21, 2013

Seven obnoxious Jesus jukes

The phrase "Jesus juke" was originally coined by Jon Acuff in a 2010 post on...

August 19, 2013

Some days there just isn’t a word from the Lord

I've been thinking a lot lately about the disconnect between our public posturing as Christians...

August 14, 2013

Does doctrine inspire love? (more fallout from @renovatuspastor’s sermon)

Well I got into a twitter argument with a young Calvinist named John following his...

August 04, 2013

Five verses God has tattooed on my heart: #2 Matthew 9:13

I've often told the story of how I discovered the verse that became the basis...

July 2013

July 30, 2013

A new metaphor for thinking about heaven and hell

I've been reading a very stimulating and provocative book by Pauline Biblical scholar Michael Gorman...