A prayer for the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

God. Isaiah wrote your words in a scroll, more than almost anyone else in the Old Testament.  and those words are quoted throughout the New Testament. Paul wrote your words in letters that we still read, over and over. His letters shape much of our thinking about what church could be. Peter wrote some more […]

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Feeling Powerless

Rich Dixon is here. I’m grateful. +++ Following up on last time, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and confronting the face of evil. For followers of Jesus, turning away and staying silent isn’t an option. So, now what? “The essence of following Jesus can be found in living out The Sermon on the Mount.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) Okay, let’s […]

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Take a breath.

I’m not at Whitefish Point, though I’d love to be. I’m helping with some funerals and teaching about grief these days. So I’m taking a couple days off writing. Rich will be here tomorrow. I’ll be back soon. And if you’ve never looked at my weekly newsletter, “Finding Words in Hard Times”, I’d love for […]

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Sometimes church is dumb. God isn’t.

Here’s what I said as part of a funeral service the other day. +++ Your mom was, as you said, spiritual. She let me pray for her at the hospital. But I’m aware that none of us go to the church building where some of us first met. And we’ve got questions about people who […]

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A prayer for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

God. You invite us into relationship with you.You send us to do your work.We don’t feel worthy of either one. Except sometimes. Sometimes we expect you to help us work on our terms.We demand your love on our terms.We say, “If you really loved us, you would fix this, you would change them, you would […]

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