August 11, 2024–Too Much of a Good Thing?
Warm-up Questions What is your favorite thing to eat? What happens if you have too much of it? Olympic Bread With the Summer Olympics in Paris this summer, bread is playing a central part in the tourist experience. After all, France is known for their bakeries, from crunchy baguettes to sweet pastries and so much more. One bakery went so far as to imprint Olympic rings on the fifteen pound loaves they were baking. You can read more about that here or watch a short video on it here. There’s something strange in that first paragraph. A loaf of bread…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For justice and peace among nations where war and conflict rage, especially Palestine and Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq,…
Support for Megan Basham’s Book: Against Her Lefty Despisers
I am currently reading Megan Basham’s recently released book Shepherds For Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda. She goes after folks who I have identified as mainstream evangelical leaders (to one degree or another), such as: Russell Moore, Ed Stetzer, JD Greear, Gavin Ortlund, and many others. I have only made it through chapter 1, on climate change. But I know the basic thesis of the book, and that there is leftist money intentionally being funneled into the evangelical environs in order to soften evangelicals to progressive themes; such as: climate change, the LGBTQI+ agenda,…
Scenes from a Street Car: Created to be Brave
Tuesday, July 16 – Created to Be Brave Today, the streets of New Orleans were alive with color and energy as over 16,000 youth and their adult leaders filled the city. Excitement buzzed in the air as old friends reunited with joyous screams and new connections began to form among youth and adults arriving at the airport and engaging in Holy Play in Community Life. Community Life was vibrant and full of energy. All five gaga ball pits were filled with not only youth but their leaders as well. Students played inflatable wack-a-mole, hungry-hungry hippo, and ran through giant inflatables….
Are the Western churches even the Church Anymore?
Confusing the various subcultures of Christianity, with the Gospel itself is fleeting. Each Christian tradition has its own idiosyncratic ways of liturgizing, and various parochialisms, and its just straight up weird stuff that they do. For my respective “tribe,” broadly speaking, as an American evangelical, what has become weird is driven by its slavish commitment to consumerism at all costs. Whether it be professional worship bands leading worship (like the folks who didn’t quite make the American Idol cut), the pastor wearing skinny jeans, sporting a mustache, with a man bun, or just the self-help sermons and programs that run…
Scenes from a Street Car: Created to be Free
Thursday, July 18 – Created to Be Free Today, over 5k Gathering participants in bright orange shirts launched into the city for “Accompaniment Day,” a day dedicated to walking alongside and supporting the people of New Orleans. Participants engaged with community leaders who are making significant impacts locally and globally. Each project was crafted by local leaders to deepen their missions, highlighting the importance of partnership and continued impact. Accompaniment involves more than physical tasks; it includes learning about culture, food, and justice-centered work. As we engage in God’s mission, building relationships is essential to proclaiming the Gospel. Participants cleaned…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For justice and peace among nations where war and conflict rage, especially Palestine and Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Myanmar,…
No Chain of Being Between God and Humanity, Just Jesus
Christians don’t believe in a chain of being between God and the world. Christians believe that God in-breaks into the world with irruption that this world could never produce. Without God’s gracious and free election to invade this world, this humanity, we would have no access into God’s inner life; which is eternal life. The Christian believes in a life that was first set for them in the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ; indeed, a life, a Deus incarnandus (‘God to be incarnate’), that was there ever before this world was this world. Deus incarnatus (‘God incarnate’) is humanity’s only…
July 21, 2024–And Then There Were Flight Delays
Warm-up Questions What does it feel like to have your plans disrupted? What does it feel like to experience delays that are out of your control? A Global Software Glitch Just small mistake in a few lines of code. That’s all it took to cancel thousands of flights, lock hospital computers, freeze bank operations, and even temporarily shut down government operations. Throughout the globe, millions upon millions of people’s lives were impacted by just a small mistake in a few lines of code. Some of you reading this may have dealt with the impacts directly. As I write this, I’m…
Prep Now for August Advocacy Opportunities
By Ryan Fonseca-Vega, ELCA Advocacy Intern August presents unique opportunities to bring our deep concerns as Christians about many things related to our planet and the beings that inhabit it to U.S. Congress in our own backyards. In-person and virtual meetings, as well as Town Halls, can be scheduled in this month as the U.S. Congress usually takes a recess. Representatives and senators often visit their congressional districts and/or home states in August to reconnect with their constituents – like you. TIPS FOR ARRANGING A MEETING | PARTICIPATING IN A TOWN HALL | GENERAL PREPARATION | FOLLOWING UP TIPS…