Eucharistic Presence for a Church in Exile

Little did the Church know at the beginning of March 2020, the opportunity that was about to present itself to us. Many of us have lived our entire lives attending church services multiple times per week without any disruption. Our worship gatherings included a combination of greetings, songs, prayers, Scripture readings, sermons, and announcements, with the occasional baptism or communion thrown in monthly or quarterly. We were able to hear live bands and large crowds singing and dancing with professional lighting and sound systems that created the perfect ambiance. But suddenly, we were left in our living rooms with our laptops. Read more

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Loving Our Lonely Exile

One of my deepest wounds that I’ve carried in life has been the wound of identifying with lonely exile. Last year, as I was talking about my career and ministry with two men who have been very impactful servants of healing for me, one of them asked me what it is that I want. I immediately said, “home.”

As far back as I remember, I’ve felt as if I were walking down a cold, dark street on Christmas Eve, hearing the sounds of families and friends enjoying hot meals, rich wine, laughter and song. I’ve put myself out there, knocking on doors, helping people take out their trash, shoveling their snow, longing to be a part of what others are doing. I’ve had some really great conversations with people and have enjoyed some good laughs. But I’ve never really felt welcomed home. And after each conversation, following each opportunity, it would end up just being me and the stars. Read more

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The Church in Lonely Exile

As our days of staying home due to the coronavirus turn into weeks, Christians are feeling something they have most likely never felt on Sunday mornings before, at least in the West. Of course, many churches are offering their services online to be viewed through computers and phones. But screens are no substitute for face to face relationship. This feeling many of us are being introduced to is the feeling of lonely exile. Read more

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Worshiping With Our Universal Family

As the coronavirus spreads throughout the world, many churches are canceling their services for the foreseeable future. I obviously have not done an exhaustive study of how churches are handling this. But I have noticed a pattern of pastors emphasizing the need to make decisions about church gatherings out of love rather than fear, providing videos for church members to watch on their phones or computers, and encouraging families to spend time in prayer and family worship. Read more

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Deconstructing “Deconstructing Deconstruction”

A pair of YouTubers who I admittedly had never heard of named Rhett and Link recently shared their de-conversion stories. Now, I’ve never watched any of their videos other than the two videos about their personal stories. But with that said, there was much about their stories that resonated with me. Both of them grew up in conservative evangelical churches and served in the worship ministries of complementarian, Calvinist churches in the Carolinas. If those terms are Christianese to you, feel free to be curious and explore them! But for me, Rhett and Link understood exactly where I have come from. Read more

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Consider the Stars: Album Intro

I’m excited to announce that we will be releasing our first full length album on March 14th! The album, Consider the Stars, will explore the spiritual poetry of the science of space. Here is some of the backstory surrounding how the album came together over the past two years!

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Uncategorized

You may have noticed over the past few articles I’ve posted that they’ve each been listed as “Uncategorized.” At first glance, this may appear to be due to laziness on my part. But in a weird way, it has actually been a healing exercise for me to practice over the last few months. Read more

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Original Wonder

Perhaps you’ve heard of the theological concept of “Original Sin.” It’s a doctrine made popular by St. Augustine that says that each of us has a sin nature handed to us through the sperm of our father going all the way back to Adam, who is believed to be the original human man and father of us all. As I was taught, this is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin. By not having an earthly father, the sin nature that all of humanity inherits would not be passed down to him.

This doctrine of original sin is where many of us begin our theology. After all, the word “original” carries within it the idea of “origin,” or the beginning. Read more

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Moving Through Doubt Toward Wonder

Every moment of loving, creative overflow begins with the seed of wonder. We may not even recognize it as such. In fact, we may not even notice what is happening in our souls until the seed of wonder begins to grow into questions.

This state of questioning is very unsettling, perhaps even shocking at first. What if something very fundamental that you believe about the world, about relationships, about politics, yourself, or even God, is not true? If that one thing is not true, then what else is not true? At what point does questioning individual facts begin to morph into entire paradigm shifts? And at what point have you lost your faith? Read more

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Squirrels and Sacraments

I sat down into my chair as the light filled room began to slowly sing with the soft whispers of old and new friends. We’d been having a stunningly beautiful experience of wonder, rest, and community over the past 16 hours. And as the morning sun filled the room, I saw the Table. It was a beautiful round wooden table with leaves and other decorations that I can’t quite remember how to describe. What I do remember clearly was the bread and the wine and the presence of friends, or really, of family.

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