A few years ago a friend sent me a link to this video, and I’ve continued enjoying watching it from time to time. I thought of it again this week as I know how many of our congregations get “kick-started” after the summer is over and school and other activities get going again. What I like about the video is that it illustrates a number of misperceptions of church – that the people have it all together, have the answers their looking for, etc. – and invite us to imagine the opposite – that church is where you go when you don’t have it together, are searching for answers, and so on. It reminds me that although there are plenty...

So the Easter season is come and gone, and with it my attempt to practice gratitude by posting one thing for which I’m grateful each day. Now a few days into the season of Pentecost, I thought I’d share a couple of observations about that exercise. 1) Being intentional matters. I think that, by and large, I’m a fairly grateful person. That is, on the whole, I tend to focus far more on the blessings of my life than the setbacks. Nevertheless, “practicing” gratitude – that is, making an intentional effort to name it daily – made a difference. It broadened by “gratitude horizen” and invited to notice even more of the blessings...

I love the picture Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church (St. Louis Park, MN) has come up with under the leadership of their new pastor, Amy Orstad, to describe its life and mission. I love the picture because it reminds us that church is supposed to prepare us to meet God the rest of the week. I love the picture because it reminds us that God is out in front of us, waiting for us to catch up to where God is already at work in the world. I love the picture because it invites a new generation of Christians and seekers to imagine church differently. I love the picture because it’s the “good kind of crazy” that invites all of us to think...

After the post on the origins of the “It’s Pentecost” video went up, my creative partner-in-crime Ben Cieslik directed me to the actual Pete Rollins quote that inspired our work. I’m pretty sure this was the first time I’d seen this video, so I’ve probably been misquoting him second-hand for years! In any event, I thought I’d post the video below. As is often the case when I listen to Pete, I have two reactions. The dominant one is a sense of gratitude and appreciation for how he regularly frames the message of the gospel in a compelling and surprising way that therefore not only gets my attention and but stays with me. Often...