Reformed, Hopeful, Always Reforming
This is where we live; shrouded in darkness Bearing the indelible marks of death Saturday. Blackened Saturday. Hope of Sunday morning’s light breaking through, Nowhere to be found. This is where we live; in shock, in grief Coping with our well worn mechanisms Food, drink, sex, idle chatter, work When my mom was dying, my […]
Read More Where We Live: A Reflection for Holy Saturday
“While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah: […]
Read More Failing Exegesis with JohnIn the last quarter of 2014 the issues of institutionalized racism, unequal treatment of Blacks by the police, and unequal sentencing for people of color in comparison to whites, were all brought to the forefront of the American conversation, on the news as well as social media: blogs, Facebook and Twitter. But nothing happens in […]
Read More Is the Dream Still Alive? (MLK DAY 2015)A few of you know that in addition to being an underemployed pastor I am also a poet and spoken word artist. I try to perform at least once each week in one of the fine establishments around Grand Rapids that host open mic nights: Stella’s Lounge, Eastown Hookah Lounge, or Lantern Coffee Bar and Lounge. This last Friday I had the […]
Read More DreamRecently musician and worship leader, Michael Gungor came out about something that fundamentalist and hyper conservative Christian circles generally force people to keep buried deep in the closet or else suffer scorn, scrutiny and possibly the label heretic or worse… liberal (*imagine a loud scary conservative talk radio voice*) No he is not gay. […]
Read More Gungor, Mohler and What does Reformed mean Amymore?“We believe in a traditionally Christian sexual ethic: that God created human beings male and female, and that any sexual intimacy outside of a faithful, lifelong marital union of a man and woman is contrary to His plan.” It is not important which one of the many tens of thousands of anti-LGBTQ equality websites the […]
Read More Golden Calf or Light Unto the Path?Nothing New Under the Sun Church participation is in decline. It’s certainly not a new story. The old narrative (at least in some circles) was that we were finally feeling the aftershock of the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy of the 1920’s and 30’s. Mainline churches offered a watered down “liberal” theology some argued. The contention was that […]
Read More The Heart of WorshipJohn Pavlovitz is a Blogger whose writing I have recently come to enjoy. Last week he had a good post challenging men to take responsibility for their own sexual urges, desires and actions and to stop scapegoating women for the way they look or dress. John is a Christian, but with that post he was […]
Read More Silent No MoreWe know how it goes. We’ve repeated the story, maybe read about it in (some) church history books. And many of us have probably even seen a young Joseph Fiennes act it out on screen. Martin Luther stands before the Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms and says, Unless I am convinced […]
Read More Together We StandOn this day, May 12, in the year 254 Pope Stephen I succeeded Pope Lucius I as the 23rd Bishop of Rome. Stephen (or Stephanus in Latin) was almost certainly Pope Stephen’s birth name. It did not become customary for Popes to take new names until the sixth century and still was not routinely expected until sometime […]
Read More Pope Stephen I: Defender of Papal Authority & Proto Reformer
That Reformed Blog 