Studio Updates —

This is the manuscript I worked from on 8/27/23 for a sermon about the fourth of the Ten Commandments.

“What do I repent from” asks what I can keep. “Who do I turn to” asks how I orient my life to God.

“Deconstruction” is typically thought of as rejecting Christianity and leaving the church. But deconstructing what is false and building what is true is something I think we all need to think about.

The following is the manuscript I used for my sermon at Imagine Church on 2/27/22.

But what if there was a place for them to turn, a central location filled with resources that could introduce them to a variety of topics? What might that place look like; how could it be a help to that person; and how could that resource show the fundamental connection between the Bible and the call for justice in the world?

…perhaps what I needed was an opening to honestly reflect on this part of myself at this moment in my life. Unfortunately, I think it’s taken this much time to realize that my fear of making another mistake, causing pain to another person, has kept me from any sort of discussion. It kept me from continuing to study. It caused me to continue contributing to a system of oppression through my silence.

…the thoughts and feelings that have stuck with me are more closely related to a “small-ness” I often feel inside myself as I approach the outside world, a disposition that apologizes for the space I inhabit by attempting to keep myself as out of the way as possible.

The following is the text I used for the sermon I gave at Imagine Church on 5/16/21.

This question, and my answer (so far), probably speaks largely to my legal and political philosophy. On the one hand, almost all members of Congress are not my representatives. I do not live in their district, and cannot vote for or against their election to Congress. At the same time, the decisions made by all of these people generate policy which directly affects everyone living in this country, which, selfishly, includes me. While this may not technically count as representation, I think the idea that there may be some “guilt by association,” whether as a citizen of a specific state or the country, holds at least some small amount of significance when we consider the question of who represents us.

…the violence demonstrated this week is in no way unique. This violence has been present throughout the history of this country, and there are many who are not surprised that it was once again demonstrated.

Over the last year or so, I’ve developed a sort of motto for my work week: if I can get through Wednesday, I can get through Friday. This week, I wondered if the same would be true for our country.

Their exile had not separated them from the presence of God; their actions had. Israel as a whole had fallen into idolatry, worshipping Gods other than YHWH. This not only separated them from relationship to God, but in order to service this habit, they had preyed upon the weakest and most vulnerable members of their society, the ones they were repeatedly called to protect. They had lost their ethical distinctiveness which was meant to set them apart from the nations, and it took an exile to Babylon to relearn what it meant to truly be the people of God.

In the last week, much has happened in my hometown, Minneapolis, MN. Today, as with the last week (and beyond), the President chose to make comments regarding the situation, which has spread across the country. I decided to write a letter to the President in response.

It’s a new year and I have a new website.