Category: Religion
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What K-Pop Demon Hunters Can Teach Us About Faith, Fear, and Paying Attention
Every so often a movie arrives that stirs up concern among Christians before anyone has even seen it. The recent conversations around K-Pop Demon Hunters are a perfect example. Based solely on the title, many have assumed the film is anti-faith or spiritually dangerous. I understand the instinct behind those…
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It’s the End of the World As We Know It?
“In my corner of the religious world, some say it’s time to focus more on the world after this one and not worry about the “fallen” one we’re in. The thing about that kind of giving up? It’s not Christlike.”
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A Call for Christians to Kindness in Our Divided World
A letter to my fellow Christians: In a divided world, choose kindness and grace.
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On Burying Friends
Since January 2020, I have now officiated twenty-three funerals of congregants. When I officiated my first in January 2021, I remember being worried because…
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Christians, Give Yourself Permission to Mourn This Easter
Easter Sunday is generally a day of light for Christian churches. We sing songs of joy, exclaim that “he is risen” and celebrate the risen Jesus that brings us all together. Often, Easter Sunday is one of the highest attended Sundays. Many churches find their pews/chairs full of congregants ––…
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At the Intersection of Death and Love | Reflections on Ash Wednesday
Today is an odd day. On the one hand, today is Ash Wednesday: a day we focus on the finality of death, the realization that our lives are short and headed toward an end. But, juxtaposed against that, is that today is also Valentine’s Day: a day we celebrate the…
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The Open Doors of Ash Wednesday
The doors are open. It’s not odd for this to be true because it is, after all, an unusually warm day for March 1. I approach and enter them with wonder: at their openness, and at what is to come inside. We gather in the pews, preparing ourselves for the…
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The Holy Place
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” – Exodus 3:5 (NIV) I was far from any burning bush when I realized the ground on which I was standing was holy. No, I didn’t remove my shoes…
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Refraining Good Friday at Christmastime
Christmas Eve worship is always a favorite of mine: carol singing, decorations, “lessons” from the scriptural Christmas stories, nativities, children hardly able to sit still for the coming Christmas, and, of course, candles filling the worship space with light. All of these elements of worship in this annual service are…
