Category: Voices

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.” — C. S. Lewis [1]

I agree with Lewis, Christianity is more than just an objective truth, it is a worldview, a way of looking at and making sense of the world. The Christian faith is not just something we admire from a distance—it is a way of observing and making sense of everything else around us.

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[1] “Reflections: Christianity Makes Sense of the World.” C.S. Lewis Institute, December 1, 2013. http://www.cslewisinstitute.org.

I’m behind on posting this, but it’s still worth sharing. The article by the conservative columnist David French is from The New York Times. I’m sharing it as a gift article so you can read it even if you don’t have a subscription. College Avenue UMC is a church that doesn’t fear the world, but instead loves its neighbors. That’s important to me.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/opinion/easter-christianity-jesus-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GVA.mKSn.jL3JkmLuH91-&smid=url-share

Reading for my sermon on Christmas Eve, I came across a quote from 1641 that I wanted to share.

“How could he quit his kingly state
for such a world of greed and hate?
What deep humiliation
secured the world’s salvation.”
— Johann Rist [1]

What deep humiliation indeed.

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[1] Johann Rist (1641) quoted in Justo L. González, Luke, Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 36.

I’m sharing this quote from N. T Wright today because I need to be reminded of it myself. 

“Those who learn to forgive discover that they are not only offering healing to others. They are receiving it in themselves. Resurrection is happening inside them. The wrong done to them is not permitted to twist their lives out of shape. Forgiveness isn’t weakness. It was and is a great strength.” 

We must not let our lives be twisted out of shape by the wrong done to us. I sometimes hate to concede this, but forgiveness truly is the only way forward. The ability to forgive is a great strength, and although it is hard work, through the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do it.

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[1] N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2016), 386.

This Sunday, I’ll be preaching on Luke 23:33-43, focusing on “the penitent thief.” While preparing my sermon, I came across the following quote and wanted to share it with you.

“His tragedy is that his introduction to paradise came so late.…And his glory is that he found him in time.…His tragedy and his glory are not unlike yours and mine. And Good Friday is the opportunity to redeem tragedy into glory. For what is our tragedy but our failure to grasp what Christ can do for our lives here and now? And what is our glory but to discover with him how to live in heaven even while we live on earth?” — Howard G. Hageman [1]

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[1] Howard G. Hageman, quoted in Justo L. González, Luke (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 264.

I’ve been using the following prayer for the close of day by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It can be found in the United Methodist Hymnal as number 689. But since you probably don’t have a hymnal at home, I’m going to share it with you here. For my own use, I’ve updated the language with a few tweaks. ( E.g. “you” replacing “thee” and “thou.”)

O Lord my God, I thank you that you have brought this day to its close. I thank you that you give rest to body and soul. Your hand has been over me, guarding me and preserving me.

Forgive my feeble faith and all the wrong I have done this day, and help me to forgive all who wronged me.

Grant that I may sleep in peace beneath your care, and defend me from the temptations of darkness. Into thy hands I commend my loved ones, I commend this household, I commend my body and soul. O God, your holy name be praised. Amen. [1]

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¹ The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 689.

I rediscovered this quote from N. T. Wright and wanted to share it with you.

“The death of Jesus of Nazareth as the king of the Jews, the bearer of Israel’s destiny, the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people of old, is either the most stupid, senseless waste and misunderstanding the world has ever seen, or it is the fulcrum around which world history turns. Christianity is based on the belief that it was and is the latter.” — N. T. Wright [1]

To choose to follow Christ is to choose to make the cross the key turning point of history. Once we do that, our perspective on everything changes, and we can never again see the world the way we did previously. This change in perspective is not always welcome, but it is essential to our salvation.

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[1] N. T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006), 111.

The recent cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert reminds me of one of the most important things he ever said: 

“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we’ve got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.” — Stephen Colbert [1]

I’m thankful for what you, as individuals, and we, together as a church, do to help those in need. I wish our country, as a whole, would do more. The failure to do so is just one of the many reasons to stop claiming that this is a Christian nation. We are a nation that includes Christians, but we are not a Christian nation.

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[1] Comedy Central: The Colbert Report, 2010.

Nichola Torbett, writing in the May 4, 2025 issue of Liturgy That Matters:

“Sometimes progressive churches overemphasize a stance that “all are welcome,” and I’m not sure that’s really what Jesus had in mind. The Jesus community is meant to be doing a particular thing—caring for and joining in solidarity with the most vulnerable, Jesus’ “sheep”—and anyone who earnestly wants to join in that thing is welcome. The hope is that one day everyone will join in. But you are not welcome to come in here and sabotage the thing.” [1]

“You are not welcome to come in here and sabotage the thing.” That sentence gets at a paradox of trying to be a more inclusive church. We believe the Gospel is for all people and we don’t want to keep anyone out, but at the same time, we cannot allow that inclusive stance to be used to defend or justify un-inclusive behavior. For example, a church that wants to truly welcome LGBTQ+ folk cannot allow expressions of homophobia just because “all are welcome.” The welcome of the Gospel may apply to the oppressed and the oppressor alike, but oppressors cannot be allowed to continue in their oppression.

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[1] Nichola Torbett, “Liturgy That Matters, May 4, 2025,” enfleshed, https://enfleshed.com/.

“It’s the people who have the most who have the most anxiety about not having enough.” — Walter Brueggemann [1]

Renowned Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann shared those words when speaking of Pharaoh’s nightmare about the seven fat cows devoured by the seven skinny cows and the seven good ears of grain that were swallowed up by the bad ears in Genesis 41. His point rings true. We often seek to accumulate more and more to relieve our anxiety about not having enough. But often, the more we gain, the more anxious we become. I have consistently found generosity to be the most effective response to my fear of not having enough.

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[1] Brueggemann, Walter. “Conflict from Above: The Drive for Accumulation.” Lecture presented at the School for Leadership Training at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA, January 16, 2012.  

Link: https://emu.edu/now/podcast/category/school-for-leadership-training/