Beyond Words
Eastertide: Welcoming the Stranger
Part 1 of this Beyond Words series can be found here. “While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from…
Read MoreEastertide: The Emmaus Road – Between the Now and the Not-Yet
“Liminal space is a unique spiritual position where humans hate to be, but where the Biblical God is always leading them.” –Richard Rohr Luke’s account of Resurrection Sunday includes the…
Read MoreHoly Week | Walking in the Way of the Cross
Click for guidance on using the lectionary Lectionary Readings for Good Friday Year B: April 3, 2015; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10: 16-25; John 18:1-19:42 If any want to…
Read MorePracticing Lent: Ash Wednesday as a Way of Entering In
Click for guidance on using the lectionary Lectionary Readings for Ash Wednesday Year B: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Today is Ash Wednesday—the beginning…
Read MorePreparing for Lent – Returning to God with All My Heart
Click for guidance on using the lectionary Lectionary Readings for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “‘And yet even now,’ says the Lord,…
Read MoreReveal: Finding God in the Ordinary
Click for guidance on using the lectionary. Epiphany of the Lord: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 “The incredible gift of the ordinary! Glory comes streaming from…
Read MoreHow Silently, How Silently, The Wondrous Gift is Given
Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Christmas Day: Isaiah 52:7-10 Psalm 98 Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12) John 1:1-14 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle B) and…
Read MoreAdvent – An Invitation to Wait on God
Lectionary readings for the first Sunday of Advent (Cycle B). Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle B) and guidance on using…
Read MoreA Different Kind of Calendar
“When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s.…
Read MoreWith Gratitude for Pastors Everywhere
“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” Psalm 138:3 Several years ago I went to a particularly difficult memorial service with my daughter,…
Read MoreWho’s Your Training Partner?
I changed out of my dress slacks and button-down into spandex tri-shorts and my favorite red technical shirt as slowly as I could. It had been a long day at…
Read MoreThe Courage to Dream: Celebrating the Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The forces that threaten to negate life must be challenged by courage, which is the power of life to affirm itself in spite of life’s ambiguities. This requires the exercise…
Read MoreLeadership as Intercession Part 3: Entering into the Suffering of God’s People
The rest of our summer eReflections series can be found here: Part 1 and Part 2. “Do not be afraid to suffer.” Rainer Maria Rilke Oftentimes when I am in God’s…
Read MoreLeadership as Intercession Part 2 : Present to God on Others’ Behalf
Part 1 of our summer eReflection series can be found here. “I look at God, I look at you, and I keep looking at God.” —Julian of Norwich The practice…
Read MoreLeadership as Intercession Part 1: Key to Surviving and Thriving in Ministry
Editor’s Note: Every summer we offer a special eReflections series that offers the opportunity to reflect on some aspect of leadership that requires a bit more consideration and prayer. Since…
Read MoreWhen Human Wisdom Isn’t Enough: Becoming a Community for Discernment
One great need of the church today is to experience the dynamic leadership of Christ as its Head…This is the most striking implication of one’s belief in the resurrected Lord. …
Read MoreThe Practice of Keeping Vigil During Holy Week
Scripture for Good Friday (April 18, 2014): Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42 “Who can stay awake in this night of God? Who will not be as if paralyzed…
Read MoreSeason of Returning: Rain at Winter’s End
“Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea!” —I Kings 18:44 I love the way the rain comes at winter’s end hosing…
Read MoreAsh Wednesday: Crossing the Threshold into Lent
Scripture for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “‘And yet even now,’ says the Lord, ‘return to me with all…
Read MoreSeason of Returning: A Leader’s Journey into Lent
Scripture for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “Lent is a time of returning to God. It is a time…
Read MorePresidents Day: What We Know for Sure
“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well…
Read MoreTransforming Worship: Encountering God in Ways that Change Us
“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into that same image from one degree of…
Read MoreChristmastide: From Waiting to Wonder
Lectionary Readings for Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) for Christmas Day: Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 98, Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12), John 1:1-14 Advent Calendar (Cycle A)…
Read MoreAdvent 4: Joseph And The Walk Of Faith
Lectionary Readings for December 22, 2013: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7,17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 Advent Calendar (Cycle A) and guidance for using the lectionary “Sooner or later, if we follow…
Read MoreAdvent 3: Gifts In The Wilderness
Lectionary Readings for December 15, 2013: Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 Advent Calendar (Cycle A) and guidance for using the lectionary “The desert of which I speak…
Read MoreAdvent 2: Joyful Preparations
If you are joining us for week 2, you might want to also access other eReflections in this Advent series: Read Advent 1—The Importance of Waking up Lectionary readings for Dec 08, 2013: Is…
Read MoreAdvent 1: The Importance of Waking Up
Lectionary readings for Dec 01, 2013. Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Rom 13:11-14; Matt 24:36-44 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle A) and guidance on using the lectionary. “God comes to us like…
Read MoreA Different Kind of Calendar
“When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s.…
Read MoreSabbath in Late Fall
For everything there is a season… Sometimes on the Sabbath all you can do is settle into the soft body of yourself and listen to what it says. Listen to…
Read MoreYou Say You Don’t Have Time for Retreat? Think Again!
When there is no time to do it, that’s when you most need to unclutter the calendar and go apart to pray. When the gridlock in your schedule relentlessly forbids…
Read MorePart 5: Leading in Rhythm: Discerning and Doing the Will of God
If you are joining us for Part 5, you might want to also access other eReflections in this series, Leading in Rhythm: • Part 1—Beyond the Bondage of Busyness • Part…
Read MorePart 4 Leading in Rhythm: Three Moves in Self-Examination
“A leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what’s going on inside him- or herself, inside his or her consciousness, lest the act of leadership create more…
Read MorePart 3 Leading in Rhythm: Solitude and Community
“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community…But the reverse is also true: let him who is not…
Read MorePart 2 Leading in Rhythm: Rhythms of Work and Rest
“A Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God…Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.” —Hebrews 4:9,11 Sabbath-keeping is more than just a day of rest;…
Read MorePart 1 Leading in Rhythm: Beyond the Bondage of Busyness
“We are blessed with inner rhythms that tell us where we are, and where we are going. No matter, then, our fifty and sixty hour work weeks, the refusing to…
Read MoreIn Honor of Dallas Willard: Why Bother with Discipleship?
Early yesterday morning Dallas Willard, beloved teacher, philosophy professor, author and spiritual formation guide lost his battle with stage four cancer and entered into the full experience of transformation in…
Read MoreHe is Risen! Hallelujah!
Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34-43 OR Isaiah 65:17-25; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12 Song of Praise Psalm 118 Oh give…
Read MoreMaundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday: A Prayer for Entering into these Holy Days
Maundy Thursday Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14; Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Good Friday Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 Holy…
Read MoreWeek 6 An Invitation to Walk with Christ
Sixth Sunday in Lent Liturgy of the Palms: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Luke 19:28-40 Liturgy of the Passion: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14-23:56 or Luke 23:1-49 “The whole multitude…
Read MoreWeek 5 Suffering: Dying That We Might Live
Lectionary Readings for Fifth Sunday in Lent Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalm 126, Philippians 3:4b-14, John 12:1-8 “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a…
Read MoreWeek 4 Confession: Leaders in Lent
Lectionary Readings for Fourth Sunday in Lent Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my…
Read MoreWeek 3 Repentance: Cleaning Our Messy House
Lectionary Readings for Third Sunday in Lent Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is…
Read MoreWeek 2 Self Denial: Setting Our Minds on Things Above
Lectionary readings for Second Sunday in Lent (Cycle C) Genesis 15:1-12, 17-28; Psalm 27, Philippians 3:17-4:1a; Luke 13:31-35 Come my heart says, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I…
Read MoreWeek 1: Crossing the Threshold into Lent
Scripture for First Sunday in Lent: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13 The season of Lent derives its structure and its themes from Christ’s forty days in the wilderness, where he…
Read MoreLent: A Season of Returning
Scripture for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; II Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “‘And yet even now,’ says the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart .…
Read MoreProphets of a Future Not Our Own
“I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land!” —Martin Luther King, Jr. Is…
Read MoreEpiphany: A Dangerous Journey
Lectionary readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 Lectionary Calendar (Cycle C) and guidance for using the lectionary This Sunday officially marks the end of the Christmas…
Read MoreAdvent 4: Saying Yes to God
Lectionary Readings for December 22, 2012: Micah 5:2-5a; Psalm 80:1-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55 Advent Calendar (Cycle C) and guidance for using the lectionary In the fourth week of Advent…
Read MoreAdvent 3: A Time for Courage
Lectionary Readings: Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18 Advent Calendar (Cycle C) and guidance for using the lectionary In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis…
Read MoreAdvent 2: He Must Increase, I Must Decrease
Lectionary Readings for December 9, 2012: Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 Advent Calendar (Cycle C) and guidance for using the lectionary The lectionary readings for this second Sunday…
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