Dear Partner in Preaching, Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to imagine a future all that different from the past? We somehow get stuck in patterns of behavior and eventually come to believe that our past performance isn’t simply a predictor of our future behavior but rather its guarantee. And so the older we grow the less open the future seems and more ominous the past looms in our lives. The key to all of this, recent psychological research tells us, is story. Because the past isn’t simply the past, it’s the interpreted past. The past, in short, is the story we’ve told ourselves about the past. Which is why two siblings can...
John 19:19-22
posted by DJL
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief...
Late Spring
posted by DJL
Robert Leighton’s “Late Spring” seems particularly compelling to me as I look out over our snow-covered yard and desperately try to forget that today is the first full day of spring. I had grown used to a late – sometimes very late! – spring in Minnesota. Our last winter there saw...
John 19:18
posted by DJL
There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. It’s remarkable, when you think about it, how few words it takes to describe the loss of an innocent life. One sentence, four dreadful words: “There they crucified him.” This is no peculiar...
Social Capital and Courage in a Brave New World
posted by DJL
I’ve suggested on countless occasions in multiple venues that we live in a liminal time, a transition time, a time when major paradigms are shifting and change is the only constant. Which means that business as usual just won’t cut it. In particular, during times such as these, a different kind of leadership is needed. Whereas technical competence and excellent managerial skills are highly valued traits of leaders during the long stretches of stability in between more tumultuous times of paradigm change, those very traits can greatly limit an organization’s ability to adapt to new circumstances. Why? Simply because you...
John 19:16b-17
posted by DJL
So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. This is another detail unique to John…and easy to miss because it is tucked within and along side other more dramatic details like the gruesome...
The Power of Giving
posted by DJL
I’ve written before about how the transformative power of dedicating yourself to making a contribution to whatever group you’re a part of, whatever persons you’re surrounded by, and in any situation you find yourself. This attitude is, I think, one of the hallmarks of great leadership...
John 19:14b-16a
posted by DJL
He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. We have...
John 19:14a
posted by DJL
Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. We have noticed time and again that John is a master artist, carefully crafting scenes to witness to the truth of Jesus. For this reason, we’ve grown accustomed to hugging the details of John’s narrative, trusting...
Preaching With Power
posted by DJL
In the late Seventies, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Willis and the late Rev. Dr. Randolf L. Jones began exploring the possibility of finding a seminary home for their work with African American Pastors and their hopes to establish a program of study that focused on, and supported, the needs of the African American Church community in Philadelphia. After meeting with a number of disappointing responses, they brought their proposal to The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and, as Dr. Jones was fond of recounting, “While others said no, Lutheran said ‘YES’!” And the rest, as they say, is history. As with all great histories, this one...
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