Justice Matters Now | a meditation on ways to resource the justice we need

Justice Matters Now | a meditation on ways to resource the justice we need

There’s a lot that needs to change outside us, but outer change requires inner and personal change otherwise it perpetuates the cycle of abusive power by those who are unconscious of what drives them. Revolutionary justice isn’t necessarily transformational justice. Without inner transformation, the oppressed can too easily become the oppressors and the cycle continues. To foster a transformational justice, we must face the internal biases, prejudices, assumptions, habits, and behaviors that arise from those unconscious biases. To grow the justice we need, we must grow ourselves.

The third and final sermon in the three week series: “What Matters Now.” It’s based on Ezekiel 47.1-12 and Luke 6.39-42.

Here’s the sermon . . .

Remembering to Breathe: How to survive parenthood (and other challenges) and thrive because of it

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Dr. Sherry Walling, psychologist, and host of the podcast, Parenting Reimagined, interviewed me years ago (2013).

She’s a great interviewer who drew some interesting and revealing comments from me about life, parenting, the hidden challenges of pastoral ministry, and what it means to live into our full humanity when life, divorce, teenagers, and global problems can make us wonder if we’ll make it though. We do, but not unscathed. And, if we learn to enter the vulnerability, we can, in fact, thrive .

I recently stumbled on it again and thought I’d post it.

Click here for the podcast.

Religion Matters Now | a meditation on the renewal of religion

Religion Matters Now | a meditation on the renewal of religion

Human beings are irrepressibly religious. Our souls, even if ignored, will always seek transcendence, wonder, and a way to connect with something larger than the small world of our own egos and social groups. Modernity excluded and maligned religion (often for good reason), but at great cost. Without good religion, human beings are adrift in the cosmos; we are lost to the things that help us find meaning, identity, and wholeness. Religion can be a healing force if we bring new life to it.

Here’s my sermon from August 18, 2019 . . .

How to hear GOD speak to you through scripture: 25 micro tips

How to hear GOD speak to you through scripture: 25 micro tips

Throughout history, one of the most time-honored ways of hearing the still, small voice of GOD is to sit still with Holy Scripture, yield yourself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and listen for what may come to you. The historic practice of Lectio Divina, long neglected, is now making a come back. This kind of listening for GOD can also be done with a piece of art, an icon, something in your garden . . . anything (I call this kind of visual meditation “visio divina”). Below I briefly outline 25 things to keep in mind