Last Tuesday I went to see Rob Bell at the Uptown Theatre. I’ve you’ve not heard of him, he’s an engaging and captivating voice in contemporary Christianity. He’s written a few books (with provocative titles like Velvet Elvis and Sex God), and he’s come up with a series of short DVDs called NOOMA that are [...]

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Wave your palms! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

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I had lunch with some pastor friends Wednesday, and one of them confessed to “giving up blogs for Lent.” He meant by this that he neither was reading blogs (including my own), nor was he contributing to his. It sparked interesting conversation over our lunch (along with, of course, prognosticating the upcoming Royals season.)
Turns out [...]

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Sunday I led the third of four Lenten series events at the church. We’ve been looking at Prayer: prayer in the bible, obstacles to prayer, and exploring together various ways to pray. Jeff and I have been trying to balance corporate and individual prayer as well as the various types of prayer (some people use [...]

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Jim Bonewald is small-church Presbyterian pastor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, whom I “met” online through his blog, The Church Geek. Blogging pastors tend to be pretty cool, and Jim is no exception: I’m even taking advantage of his online appeal to join in a March Madness bracket pool called “Decently and in Order.” Did I [...]

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From Neil Craigan at his blog brokenbonds loosedchains, you can find this mediation (and this picture):
A time to slow down, a time to lie fallow, a time in which growth ceases and nature rests. It is a time in which many animals go into hibernation not emerging again until the warmer days of spring come [...]

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Bob Carlton, on his blog The Corner, offers this wonderful advent meditation. I’m shamelessly copying it, but his blog is a good one to read, if you’re so inclined. Enjoy:

Quiet By Paul Simon the album You’re The One
I am heading for a time of quiet
When my restlessness is past
And I can lie down [...]

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Here’s another good blog suggestion: Real Live Preacher. This is the blog of Gordon Atkinson, an (American?) Baptist pastor in San Antonio, Texas. You can read more about his blog on his about page, where you’ll find that he has a book of his essays published, has written for the Christian Century, and takes to [...]

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I came across this post by Liz Mosbo VerHage on her blog Living Theology tonight. I think this is just a wonderful prayer, and I thought you might like to pray it yourself:
 
Below is one of my favorite fixed prayers, because it allows for my reality (questioning, wondering, waiting) alongside God’s reality (gracious, giving, protecting) [...]

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I received a request Sunday to provide the list of things I mentioned at the end of my sermon Sunday that we can be grateful for. The list was illustrative, not meant to offer a complete reflection, but more to prompt imagination. But if it is helpful, here’s the ending to my sermon “Gratitude”…
We can [...]

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