Tag Archives: Jesus
Bidding ‘Adieu’ to the boy wizard: Harry Potter as ‘Shema’ and why Christians need to say thank you to JK Rowling
July 15th, 2011 we “see” and “hear” the end of the Harry Potter saga in its final installment of the Warner Brothers movie franchise that began back in 2000 and with the close of the end credits the summation of one of the most enduring ‘coming of age’ tales in modern history. By see and hear I underscore that the ending of the Harry Potter saga – Harry Potter and the Deathly … There’s more to read here.
Life after Pentecost – the Spirit in the Material World
This past Sunday is known in the Christian year as “Pentecost Sunday” which celebrates the beginning of the Christian church with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as noted in Acts 2. What results from the outpouring of the Spirit is a movement toward radical community, signs and wonders of power, healing and reconciliation as well as the assurance that the promises of Jesus Christ are not merely waiting at … There’s more to read here.
3 Things U2 has that the Church needs: Life after Emergent and the “Iron Maypole” movements
“What can I give back to God for the blessings he poured out on me? What can I give back to God for the blessings he poured out on me? I lift high the Cup of Salvation as a toast to our Father To follow through on a promise I made to you from the heart…”
– Bono’s intro to “Where the Streets Have No Name”, U2 in Boston, Elevation
5 things Oprah taught the world
Last night, Oprah Winfrey ended a 25 year, 4,561 episode run of the Oprah Winfrey Show not in a massive stadium spectacle nor by giving away cars or even having Tom Cruise jumping on the sofa next to her. No, she zeroed in on what the world loves her for: she stood before her regular TV audience – estimated viewing of 48 million per week and probably 60 million watching her finale last … There’s more to read here.
Amendment 10-A and Dulles’ community of disciples: Do we have a reason to divide the Church
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.
My denomination – the PC(USA) – includes more than two million people who worship in over 10,000 congregations throughout the United States. These are people who love God in a myriad of ways, … There’s more to read here.
Jesus – Dead or Alive? Luke Timothy Johnson and the temptation to put Jesus back in the tomb
One of my favorite New Testament Scholars is Luke Timothy Johnson who is the R.W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Emory University in Atlanta. He is a former Benedictine monk and prolific scholar whose work digs deep into scripture but continues to ask very humane questions. In his 1999 book Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospels, he poses a deceptively simple yet … There’s more to read here.
Easter: Fantastic Mr. Fox, St. Augustine, Calvin and Bonhoeffer on why the Cross remains
At the beginning of Wes Anderson’s animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mr and Mrs Fox are trapped by a farmer and perceiving that this might be the end, they have the following interchange:
Mrs. Fox: This story’s too predictable.
Mr. Fox: Predictable? Really? Then, how does it end?
Mrs. Fox: In the end, we all die. Unless you change.
There is something in the simplicity of this exchange that … There’s more to read here.
Good Friday: Poetry for reflection from Auden, Berry, Cairns and Levertov
Stop All The Clocks
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone
Prevent the dog from barking at a juicy bone
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling in the sky the message “He is dead”
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves
He … There’s more to read here.
Maundy Thursday – The empty cup, Annie Dillard, and stumbling into the Garden with U2
The world of Scripture is a world of “limited good.” That is, everything that exists is perceived to exist in limited amounts, in amounts that cannot be augmented without depriving others. As we come to this point in Holy Week, we come against the limits of our lives and the limits of what is around us. After weeks of fasting and doing without, coming into Holy Week is often a … There’s more to read here.
Holy Week: Ending violence, Patty Griffin, and taking steps towards the power of an invincible forgiveness
It seems strange to live on this side of Palm Sunday – so much excitement and optimism about what the world could be, how things might turn out always seems to be pointed toward the positive, affirmative, and hopeful. Yet we don’t live in an age of optimism. No, we are in the age after the possibilities of human potential, the failure of institutions that once held such promise … There’s more to read here.
