Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole...
Friendship as Solidarity
posted by DJL
I love television commercials. Actually, that’s not really accurate. Most often, I hate television commercials because I experience them as interruptions of whatever I’m watching, as all-too-often inane sale pitches, and sometimes as downright insulting with regard to the various stereotypes they perpetuate. At the same time, though, from time to time I am surprised, delighted, even inspired by commercials, and that’s when I love them. Sometimes it’s simply that they make me chuckle, as with the VW ad about the little boy playing Darth Vadar. Other times, I’m actually captivated and given insight not only into our popular culture...
Luke 9:18-22
posted by DJL
Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I...
Faith and Ethnicity
posted by DJL
Can we be more than an ethnic church? That’s the question I’ve been pondering since reading an article in this morning’s Star Tribune about the loss of ethnic identity in Minnesota. The author, focusing in particular on the descendants of German, Norwegian, and Swedish immigrants of the...
Luke 9:12-17
posted by DJL
The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They...