All atonement theories get it wrong by substituting beliefs about Jesus for the way (his virtues, values, and practices) of Jesus that he taught us by word and deed.
How simplicity can save us and our world
Based on the Lectionary readings for Year B from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels
O come, O come Wisdom from on high – Send your wisdom and cast aside the myopic stupidity that comes from thinking only of ourselves, only of our own species, only of our own wellbeing, only of our own country, only of our own religion, only of our own historical moment.
What six hidden women can teach us about Jesus
Who is Jesus to you? What informs and shapes your view of Jesus and his work?
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,[e] with whom I am well pleased.”
The four gospels all tell a different story with regard to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The facts are all different, but the essence is the same: something divine was present in Jesus.
The Psalms are not fluffy poetry read by a Shakespeare actor in tights and a puffy shirt.
A short closing or sending-out song appropriate for all forms of inclusive worship.
Hymns and Other Worship Materials
William (Bill) Livingstone Wallace is a retired New Zealand Methodist Minister and one of our most prolific contributors.
A Christian Hymn against Christian Nationalism
God abundant, God of wonder, God of every living thing, God of justice and of righteousness, empower us as we sing.
A Liturgical Piece
When all is burned away by violence, fear and greed We tremble in our terror that we’ve lost the things we need.
The sacred myth tells us that Jesus rose from death after three days - what transformation happened in that tomb? Jim Burklo connects the story with our gestation of fear into faith, victimhood into victory, harmful theology into healthy spirituality.
A pretty, simple Easter Hymn: Love Will Have the Final Laugh
Incorporating the new science, creation spirituality, and Christian teaching
Evolutionary Rituals are ways to show how religion, humanity, and divinity evolve.
Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost do not form three seasons. The Easter season celebrates the three dimensions of the resurrection, ascension, and the sending of the Spirit.
This intercession was written for Holy Trinity Anglican Church Yarram, South Gippsland, Australia.
John 20:19-31
Resurrection is not about the physical resuscitation of a corpse. Resurrection is about the wisdom and the courage to proclaim with our lives that Jesus’ vision of the Reign of LOVE continues to rise in us.
In the midst of the chaos, which is Ukraine, Father Stephan spoke about life. Five funerals yesterday, a wedding and a baptism this morning. Father Stephan is from Kiev, where he hopes to return soon.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus did to deserve being tortured and crucified to death? How could someone so good be treated so inhumanely?
In the wilderness of these days, I find myself tempted to retreat from the world around me. The pandemic has trained me
Tune: St. Christopher 76.86.86.86
Jesus is not my scapegoat / for any wrong I’ve done It isn’t fair to place on him / what he had never done
I wonder what the numerous losses our world has experienced in the past two years may have liberated us from. What joys may we discover in this liberation? In the freedom from the way things were? In the discovery of stars to guide us? In the joy we allow ourselves to take in each new birth.
Mark 13:1-8
I used to think that the end of the world would come in a blaze of glory. I used to think that when the world ended there would be plenty of warning. I used to think that if you paid enough attention to what was going on around you, you would be able to tell when the world was going to end.
Mark 10:35-45
Excuse me if I sound a little too indignant but jockeying for a seat during a global pandemic is more than a little tone deaf, when according to the United Nations, yet another 150 million or so people will be plunged into poverty this year, swelling the ranks of the global poor to over one and a half-billion people, over half of which are children.
If we all have a soul, and that soul contains the image of God or God's virtues and values, then our individual deaths are not the end of what is most important about us. It is shared by all.
8/15/21 - Tenants Harbor, ME
I believe that God’s love undergirds creation and is at work always in our world, sometimes despite the seeming evidence to the contrary. And I believe that God’s love is for everyone - it is indeed the bread of life, no matter what symbols or metaphors we use.
1 Cor. 13 and Romans 8:37-39
1st Corinthians chapter 13. Danna recited it from a brand-spanking new translation of the Bible; you may remember, if you are of a certain age, it was called “Good News for Modern Man:”
Not long ago, I "mused" about my new friend at USC, Shane Cole - whom I refer to affectionately as a "digital Mennonite". He's
We can no longer deny that the seeds of racism and hatred are growing at a pace which threatens to choke our long-ago dreams of a multicultural paradise.