Q: What do Jairus, the woman who’s been bleeding for twelve years, Stephen King, and Tim Robbins have to do with each other? A: Just about everything, at least when it comes to hope. Okay, here’s the backstory: After writing on “Hope as the Heart of the Christian Faith” a couple of weeks ago, a number of folks suggested that I watch the clip from The Shawshank Redemption (written by Stephen King and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman) on hope. I’d seen – and loved – the movie years ago, but had forgotten that scene. I’ve put it below for you to watch: I think that’s right: hope is beautiful like a sonata from...

One of the routine parts of Sunday worship for many of us saying the Apostles’ Creed. But perhaps because it’s routine for many it’s also become rote, something we say without much thought and which, for that reason, routinely fails to touch us. The other challenge of the Creed is that when we say it in this way, we tend to slide toward thinking of it as a laundry list of things you have to believe (“believe” here in the sense of cognitive assent) rather than allow it to draw us into a community of people gathered around a confession of faith about what God was and is doing through Jesus for us and the...

A quick, but important caveat: I teach at a denominational seminary, was ordained into and serve in a denomination, and not only take seriously, but take pride in, my Lutheran identity and heritage. Whether that makes you want to take more seriously or dismiss altogether my feelings about denominations is, of course, for you to decide. With that in mind, here are my five chief reasons I not only think the day of denominations has passed but also can’t seem to find it in me to shed many tears about it. 1) Denominations are confusing in a post-Christian world and often an impediment to mission. When the larger culture was nominally...

In this week’s column I write for Working Preacher I suggest that the simple parable of the mustard seed – which is the gospel reading for this Sunday – is not so much a cute maxim or fable about great things having modest beginnings, which is the way I usually hear it preached. Rather, and as I talked about in a recent Daily Bread devotion, I think it’s a warning that the kingdom of God, once it takes root, will spread like an unruly weed (which is what mustard was considered in the ancient world). Of course it’s only a warning to those who are satisfied with the status quo, those who benefit from the way the...

When I read an article by Seth Godin on the woes of book publishers recently, I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between the situation he describes and the challenges facing our congregations. His summary statement of the problem is striking: the challenge the big book publishers are facing is that a perfect industry is being replaced by one filled with chaos and opportunity. What does he mean by “perfect”? Simply that book publishers – and the stores that depended on them – enjoyed a monopoly on the means of producing and selling books. As he writes, Limited shelf space plus limited competitors plus...