Hello my friends, There is a lot happening in our world right now and so I wanted to invite us to reflect on rhetoric that seems to have its tentacles connected to so many of the issues we are seeing today. The rhetoric of "family values." I heard this phrase all the time in the church growing up and still hear it today. It shapes conversations and policies, especially in states like mine (Idaho). It is really important that we as followers of Jesus both understand the reality it is creating...
2 days ago • 11 min read
Hey my friends, Holy Week and Easter have impacted me differently this year as I know it probably has for many of you as well. So, today I just want to invite us to really take to heart how those closest to Jesus felt in their impossible situation as they grappled with Jesus’ death and the fears they had towards the powers that be in their world. I feel this will help us to draw hope from the Jesus' resurrection as we face seemingly impossible situations and similar fears in our world today....
9 days ago • 10 min read
Hello my friends, I hope this finds you well. In my prayers and studies last week, I kept thinking about how much vengeance plays into the political environment of today. Everywhere I look on the spectrum of issues, they all seem to be fueled by vengeance. This is especially heartbreaking when Christians support the politics of vengeance rather than oppose them. So this Palm Sunday, I wanted to think with you about vengeance in light of the way of Jesus Christ. Here are some resources to...
16 days ago • 7 min read
Hello my friends, This has been yet another exhausting and stressful week in our country and the world. So much has happened that I won't be able to cover here. I do just want to say to make sure you are taking care of yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually as best you can. I had to take a break from social media for several days this week in order to mentally and spiritually recover from the sheer weight of all that is going on and happening to others in our world. This is so...
23 days ago • 16 min read
Hey my friends, Today's newsletter is going to be a bit different than usual. While I will often tackle a certain topic that intersects between theology and politics, I wanted today's to be a bit more pastoral. I have had so many of you message me expressing your exhaustion and grief over all that has been taking place here in America. So, I just wanted to share a simple process I use to evaluate the structure of my hope in times of weakness and grief in the hopes that you might find it...
30 days ago • 11 min read
Hello my friends, My heart has been grieving over the treatment towards our immigrant neighbors. I've gotten a lot of messages from you about this as well. So, today I wanted to invite us to contemplate the current situation through a Biblical lens and then provide some ways of getting involved. Recommended Resources: -Jemar Tisby: Road To Ruin video series. Historian, author, and my friend, Jemar Tisby has put together a video series that describes how we got here and what to do about it....
about 1 month ago • 11 min read
Hey my friends, Thanks for joining me today. Today I wanted to invite us to consider how our perspective of God shapes our view of things. I had a rather discouraging conversation this week, which I will get into below, and it was really obvious how both of us were just operating from two different perspectives of God. So I wanted to look at Luke 13:31-35 with you today and think a bit metaphorically about how our different perspectives of God can really bring about different outcomes....
about 1 month ago • 11 min read
Hello my friends, I have been getting a lot of messages lately asking about ways to maintain faithful determination towards goodness and justice in days like ours. So, today I wanted to focus on that central theme through the lens of Luke 4:1-13 where Jesus was tested in the wilderness. In so many ways, it feels like we are in a big wilderness of our own, desperately looking for the way forward. I hope our time together today can be a helpful addition to that conversation. Resources to...
about 2 months ago • 12 min read
Hello, my friends, Recent events have caused me to not be able to stop thinking about the similar themes I feel like I keep seeing in how people define masculinity and leadership in our world today, especially from many who claim to be Christian. So today, I want to think with you about those things and how they contrast with the person of Jesus. Here are some resources to consider: -Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation By Kristin Kobes Du Mez...
about 2 months ago • 15 min read
Hello, my friends, With the phrase "long live the king" and others like it causing all kinds of conversation this last week, I wanted to focus today on why Jesus has been referred to as king by those who have followed in through the ages and why it still matters today. Especially in a time when the Caesars of our world are asserting their dominance. But before we get to that, here are some resources to consider: -The Evolution of Presidential Power by Throughline. This episode from one of my...
2 months ago • 12 min read