Cloaked under the guise of ministry to the grieving, Golden Gate is no more than a high end party-planner. Their mandate is to make people feel happy and have a ‘good time.’ Funeral director John Beckwith Jr. is even quoted as saying that their desire is to ‘make these families extremely happy during the worst moments of their life.’ Continue reading
There is almost a spiritual communion that occurs between barista and customer, a communion in which the customer is indispensable. The one coming into Starbucks is not merely called to experience wonder, but to create it; to join into the drama of the production; to infuse the experience with their own sense of personality, expectation, and dreams. Continue reading
Today I’m blogging with a personal expression of gratitude. It’s nice sometimes to have a forum – like this blog – to be able to share things like this. So today I say thank you as I experience, profoundly, the presence of the living Christ in my life. And I pray that you find something to say thank you for. Continue reading
A culture of instant gratification equates God’s love and faithfulness with positive responsiveness to all our wishes and whims. Despite the activity of God in the past, the testimony of God’s faithfulness, and the history of our own redemption, these things are just ‘not enough’. We want God to give us what we want when we want it.
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One of the hardest lessons for an amateur magician to learn is how to effectively include rest and non-action into the working of magical effect. The tendency is to rush through the moves and sleights in order reach the climax or revelation as quickly as possible. This cramming together of each move, without space in between, effectively robs the illusion its power and effectiveness.
I think it’s important for us to all have a spiritual ‘home’ where we can go to, where we can feel that complete acceptance and welcome. A place where the location and people and setting all bring us into closer communion with God. A place where we can simply be who God made us to be, where we can feel God’s love no matter what. A place where we can accept wholeheartedly that we are beloved children of God, where we are inspired to take action in the world because of that love and acceptance. Continue reading
As congregations we need to be talking about how we welcome and treat young families. I believe the conversation needs to start with you. Continue reading
How we build community depends on how we define community – do we consider our community to be the folks we share geographical location with, work with, we socialise with, we worship with? Continue reading
When we teach children that their worship matters, we teach them that they are enough right here and right now as members of the church community. They don’t need to wait until they can believe, pray or worship a certain way to be welcome here, and I know adults who are still looking to be shown that. It matters that children learn that they are an integral part of this church, that their prayers, their songs, and even their badly (or perfectly timed depending on who you ask) cries and whines are a joyful noise because it means they are present. Continue reading
As the aspects of our lives shift and flow and change, so to does our response to God’s call in our lives. Responding to that changing call requires both ongoing discernment and flexibility. But when it is work that responds to God’s will, it will always be right, and surprising, and worth celebrating. Continue reading
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