“Flagbearer”

“Flagbearer”, June 2020 version This is a painting that I’ve been working on, on and off, for several years. I started her because I was enamored with Lupita Nyongo’s character in Black Panther, and wanted to do a trace of her face to do work on facial structure and rich Read more…

Sermon for the Presentation

This sermon was given on February 2, 2020 for the Feast of the Presentation, which delightfully fell on a Sunday this year. The texts used may be found here. We live in difficult times, and hopefully this conveys what it was like for others who lived in difficult times to Read more…

A Sermon On Sacrifice and Urgency

This sermon was preached on June 30, 2019, the weekend following my ordination to the transitional diaconate. The texts were from Luke, Galatians, and 2 Kings–though I did not discuss the Kings reading. Audio will be available shortly. On Tuesday, as you might know–I took vows: vows that allow me Read more…

Mille Lacs Ride

Riding Around the Horizon: Mille Lacs Around a lake you can’t see across… On May 26, 2019 I rode my bike all the way around Mille Lacs, a lake in north-central Minnesota. Mille Lacs is known for its excellent walleye fishing, home to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and Read more…

A Sermon on Esther

This is a sermon on the book of Esther, to round out the St. Matt’s 2019 series on the Old Testament. Esther is a book that only appears once in the lectionary, and so this was a fun adventure: trying to tell the whole story, capture the attitude of the Read more…

Roadtrip 2018

Road Trip 2018 In August of 2018, I took my first solo road trip across the United States. I tent camped in National Parks and National Forest campgrounds the whole way. I visited places that I had been fascinated with since I was a child, looking at glossy photos in

Roadtrip 2018: Bike Rides

The Best (and Hardest) Rides I’ve Ever Taken Rides from my 2018 Road Trip to the South West Around Lake Dillon &Summit Co. Rec Path This was my first encounter with real mountains, and it was probably my first time ever above 8,000 feet. This ride was hard, but incredibly

Do we really follow a God who asks for child sacrifice?

This article is a sermon on the Binding of Isaac, at St. Matthew’s Evening Service on October 14.  Listen to the whole thing here. Featured image is Sacrifice of Isaac, by Adi Holzer, 1997 from Wikimedia.

When I preach, I usually sit with a text and ask myself the question: What is the good news that makes a claim on us in this story? What good news is God offering us in response to all the mess and bad news that we carry today?

Our church is exploring the stories of the Old Testament in a narrative arc, from Genesis 1 to Daniel, to dig deeper into this ancient relationship between God and Humanity. One can’t go back into our history without looking at Abraham: the forefather of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam–and in all these faiths, no one can escape the moment when God asks Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. It’s central to our stories about our origins, the culmination of  decades  of wandering around, waiting for a promised child–which was why I sat, struggling on a Thursday night, asking myself: “What is the Good News here?”

But each time I tried to answer the question, I was met with another question that shoved it out of the way, and that was:

Do we really follow a God who asks for child sacrifice?

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A Short Story for the Feast of Epiphany

Or…parts of tomorrow’s sermon I could not keep.

 

The vastness of the night sky is nearly blue above them, the trail of stars etched into it, needle holes in the firmament, holding back the waters of the wild.

The magi travel on the open road, all alone, not speaking to one another. The only sound is the sound of their saddles, shifting, and the bells on the straps, but it is lost in the vastness of the dark. One hums to himself, yet the sound is simply absorbed into the spectacular scene above, and they follow a new star, a strange star, toward Jerusalem. (more…)

Mary Images for Christmas

Over the years, especially during the season of Advent, I love returning to the image of Mary the Mother of God. Her story, interpreted in so many different ways by really talented artists, is one of courage, hope, love and bravery. While I hope to make many more images of

Sermon from 6/18: Discipleship, Hope and Casting out Demons

Click Here to Read the Text!

(It is the first part of the lectionary passage for Sunday, June 18, or Proper 6).

“He had compassion on them, for they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

It seems like not much changes, does it?

On Friday, it was announced that the officer who shot Philando Castile seven times, was found not guilty on all counts against him. I find this incredibly troubling, deeply disturbing, on so many levels that I find it hard to make them all clear to you.

A man shot another man seven times with a child in the back seat, and he was found not guilty of all charges brought against him—including reckless discharge of a firearm.

He fired a gun seven times into a car with a child in the back seat.

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I will keep my faith.

Now, more than ever, I will keep my faith. In uncertain times, and wading into uncertain waters, I will listen more than ever for how I am to be a Christian. I will not forget that the Jesus Movement was originally counter-cultural, originally a movement of resistance against a tyrannical