I preached on March 5, when the lectionary text of the day was John 3:1-17. This passage includes the beloved (or despised, depending on who you are) John 3:16.
As part of my sermon, I talked about how while I was in college, my friends from the...
Dear John –
You don’t know me, but your books have sat on my shelf long enough that I like to think of you as a friend so I‘ll call you by your first time.
Your book, 12 Ordinary Men, was hugely influential in my understanding of the apostles and...
“She’s beautiful.”
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard someone say this about my newborn daughter, Kendall. It is, after all, what you say when you meet a new baby.
It’s also what my faith says about newborns. According to the ...
I spent last week at the ELCA’s National Youth Gathering with a group from my church that included two other adult leaders. As part of this event, teens from across the country came together to worship, learn, and serve. We invaded a city and...
I'm a big believer in the power of experiential learning. To this end, instead of giving a talk about prayer, I'd much rather create a series of prayer stations designed to give students the opportunity to pray in a variety of ways.
Over the next...
Yesterday, one of my female student leaders taught a class at my church. Her teaching felt especially appropriate since it was international women’s day, a day in which we celebrate women and the movement for women’s rights.
My student leader and...
In addition to reviewing Katharina & Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk, I also had the chance to interview its author, Michelle DeRusha about her writing process and what she learned from writing this...
I recently went to a youth ministry event at a local, well-known Christian college. I arrived at the event on-time only to remember too late that youth workers seldom arrive on-time to anything. The school's greeters directed me to the event space...
At a recent conference, I attended a workshop where, among other things, the presenter made the case for using gender-neutral pronouns to teach children and youth about God.
This is a debate that rages in a lot of circles. People fear that if we...
As part of our preparation for our upcoming Peacemaking Trip, we've been wrestling with the story of the Good Samaritan. In it, a lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” In response, Jesus tells a story about a man who gets robbed, stripped, and...