I am a Specialized Minister in the RCA. That means I was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament, but that I work in a specific type of ministry, not necessarily in a church context. My ministry could be called Biblical Hospitality. It could be called Spiritual Direction. It could be called Christian Coaching.…
Tomorrow (January 17, 2016) is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. I had never heard of this Sunday observance prior to living in Michigan (2004-2007), and my first experience with it was very interesting. From the pulpit, speaker after speaker, and video after video on the screen talked about the evils of abortion, and as we…
Our final unearthed entry from Gabriel’s log—for now, at least—tells of the Battle of Bethlehem—James Hart Brumm Personal Log of Gabriel, Messenger First Class, Trumpeter Second Class, Advance Unit of the Assault Division, Armies of the God Who Is and Was and Is to Come (also known as the “Heavenly Host”) Here we are, finally…
In the third installment of the logs from his field assignment, Gabriel takes a different approach—James Hart Brumm Personal Log of Gabriel, Messenger First Class, Trumpeter Second Class, Advance Unit of the Assault Division, Armies of the God Who Is and Was and Is to Come (also known as the “Heavenly Host”) Things went well…
Here’s the second installment of the logs from Gabriel’s field assignment—James Hart Brumm Personal Log of Gabriel, Messenger First Class, Trumpeter Second Class, Advance Unit of the Assault Division, Armies of the God Who Is and Was and Is to Come (also known as the “Heavenly Host”) It feels like just moments ago that I…
What follows here and over the next few days in That Reformed Blog will be entries rarely seen by human beings: the personal logs of a commander in the armies of heaven on field assignment to Bethlehem, Judea, late in the reign of Herod the Great. Any similarity to a midrash is entirely fortuitous.—James Hart…
Media vita in morte sumus—Antiphon, ca. 750, probably from France. That antiphon translates “In the midst of life, we are in death.” It appears in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church as well as in Latin liturgies. It was part of the “Committal Service for One Who Has Lived Apart from the…
[NOTE: For a history of the #BlackLivesMatter movement that will give context to this post, please see the first link in the body of the text] August 9, 2015 will mark the one-year memorial of the death of Michael Brown, an 18 year old black teen from Ferguson Missouri. Brown’s death was at the hands…
During the RCA General Synod, I posted to this blog about being calm and conciliatory, about looking at the long view of history and the mighty acts of God in the face of what some saw as frustrating nonsense going on at the Synod. Last week, I posted pastorally, about the need to be patient…
Friday, 26 June 2015, was a wonderful day for many people I know, love, and respect. The Supreme Court of the United States declared laws prohibiting same-sex marriage in the US to be unconstitutional. People who have been socially outcast have another public sign that this discrimination is not acceptable. Now, we can argue, from…
CLARIFY 1. make (a statement or situation) less confused and more clearly comprehensible. “the report managed to clarify the government’s position” synonyms: make clear, shed/throw light on, elucidate, illuminate 2. melt (butter) in order to separate out the impurities. synonyms: purify, refine From the mouths of those who have supported the creation of a “Council”…
I include the above picture for those for whom my Kubrik reference in the title was too subtle. So, the first full day of Synod has come and gone, and we have had the reports of the General Secretary and the President (http://images.rca.org/docs/synod/Synod2015-GenSecReport.pdf and http://images.rca.org/docs/synod/Synod2015-PresidentReport.pdf, respectively), and we have a proposal before us to “clarify”—the…
This week, the Reformed Church in America’s General Synod will gather in Palos Heights, Illinois, to discuss a plethora of church business. Reports from various committees, overtures responding to requests of new business, and judicial matters will all be discussed in the upcoming 7 days. I will be a delegate from the seminary, as one…
The Spirit came with wind and fire, so we close the windows, we put in sprinklers and smoke detectors, we have flame retardents and climate controls . . . . . . and not just in our homes. The Spirit came and transcended languages, so we erected bigger barriers, we buried our dry bones deeper,…
Our pastor had just finished up his sermon on falling – on admitting we are powerless and broken – when my son dropped his entire cup of hot chocolate on the church carpet (and my new shoes). I had just heard, written down, and whispered, “Amen” to these words: “Instead of the safest place to…
