I had the opportunity to talk to the music ministry volunteers at Eastview this Friday. Below is the manuscript and slides from my talk about the multi-layered worship experience of music.
CS Lewis in an Essay called “Meditation in a Toolshed” talks about two different ways to look at things. He tells the story of walking [...]
I had the opportunity to speak on the Feeding of the Five Thousand this Wednesday at the Focus service. I’d certainly do some delivery things different, but I enjoyed the process. Below is my manuscript.
Introduction
Mankind is a hungry being. We come into the world hungry. I wake up almost every morning hungry. In the middle [...]
Yes, I grew a beard in conjunction with Lent. I’ve avoided answering the questions 1) why are you growing a beard 2) when are you going to shave and 3) have you given up shaving for Lent. In part, because it’s hard (for me) to explain without getting mired down in a discussion about [...]
This morning I read a section of a really old sermon (it’s part of the daily office reading for the day) that reminded me of my favorite icon (both the quote and the icon are below). I love the theological reflection through creative narrative in this piece, and I love how the icon focuses that [...]
I’m always amused at how “rigid” structures like the liturgical year flex to fit the times. Below is a prayer from Henri Nouwen that was included in a collection of reflections on Lent for this past Sunday. A solid request no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.
“Let me retain innocence and simplicity in [...]
Each year I take a group of six students up to the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood to spend time in fixed hour prayer, silence, retreat, and service. The monastic community at Holy Cross is always extremely gracious to us and I enjoy the opportunity to expose students to spiritual formation [...]
I had the opportunity to talk about the intersection of Public Worship and Spirituality at Lakeside Christian Church during their Worship Ministry Retreat this Saturday. No need to reinvent the wheel on this one, so I simply synthesized Robert Webber’s Divine Embrace and Brian McLaren’s material on story. Here is the audio/slides (iTunes Enhanced Podcast) [...]
This has been an unusually difficult season. Death has been more present over the past year than it ever has been for me – death of a grandfather, death of family members of friends and colleagues, death of marriages, death of jobs, death of comforts. The latest was the death of a friend and colleague’s little girl who [...]
A nice description of what Campus Chapel in Ann Arbor, MI is doing with Advent appears here. So often, we do Christmas in reverse – we don’t acknowledge our need for the world to be renewed by a divine interruption (both then and now).
From Campus Chapel’s site:
Why Lament in Advent?
In order for us [...]