A few weeks ago a good friend sent me some music. It was a wonderful surprise, all the more so because the music was made by her daughter, one half of a new American folk duo named “Undlin and Wolfe.” What was cool was not just that she sent me some music – which was, indeed, cool – or even that the music is fantastic (more about that in a moment) – which was very, very cool. What was especially cool (okay, I won’t use that word again in this post) was the vehicle by which she shared the music. You see, Undlin and Wolfe are making their music available via voluntary contributions. That’s right, you...

I’m a bit ambivalent about what folks are calling the “sharing economy”. Not from a lack of desire to share. Goodness, but I think we need to share more, partner more, and cooperate more – as congregations, seminaries, community groups, etc. – than ever. It’s more that the sharing economy doesn’t always feel like sharing. Maybe it’s simply that I’ve used Uber and, sure, it’s great. But it doesn’t exactly feel like sharing when I pay at least as much as I would pay for a cab. It just feels a little more convenient, but otherwise pretty transactional. Which is where my ambivalence comes in. I actually love the way...

I love Kiva, perhaps the first internet facilitated, global face-to-face micro-lending organization. We’ve enjoyed giving and receiving Kiva gift certificates at Christmas in our family for several years. But although I knew a bit about the organization, I hadn’t seen the TED Talk of its founder, Jessica Jackley, until just recently. And…it…bowled…me…over. Why? Because of two things. First, Jackley believed from the beginning that people care about others and want to help. She didn’t try to convince them, or persuade them, or draw them in to helping others through games or gimmicks. She just...

A few weeks ago, I asked whether the church was really declining. That may seem like an odd question, given the constant bemoaning of attendance and membership declines in mainline congregations, but I pointed to the unparalleled growth of Christianity across the rest of the globe as indicating that perhaps our vision is at times to narrow when we consider God’s work in and through the church. This time, I’d like to suggest that we also at times unnecessarily narrow our vision when thinking about God’s work through the church by limiting our imagination only to congregations. When we do this, we overlook the profound...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Why is Jesus getting so much flack? I mean, we’re into just the third chapter in Mark and already he’s got the crowds wondering about him, his family afraid for him (and maybe of him!), and the religious leaders against him. And all he’s done so far is announce the coming kingdom of God, call some disciples, cast out a demon or two, and heal a bunch of sick people. Of course, one of those disciples was a tax collector, he cast out the demon and did much of his healing work on the Sabbath, and he wasn’t put off in the least when approached by a leper. Which means that his vision of the coming kingdom of God...