Crazy Faith Talk

The trouble with a word as big and broad as "love" is that we can all say we're in favor of it and still mean very different--even contradictory--things when we say it.  The church is no different. We know we're supposed to be a community grounded in "love" for God and neighbor, but all too often, the church has gotten swept up in the wider culture's assumptions that "love" is primarily about roma...

As they continue their current series listening to voices outside each of their own faith traditions, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve turn to a much-loved spiritual teacher in the Roman Catholic tradition from the twentieth century, Henri Nouwen.  Well known for titles such as The Wounded Healer, The Return of The Prodigal Son, Life of the Beloved, and numerous other works, Nouwen wrote extensivel...

Sometimes religious folks assume it's a new idea to say that Christians should advocate for sharing their resources and pursuing policies to help those most in need.  Sometimes you'll hear critics saying that's a recent invention called "the social gospel" but that "true" Christianity encourages people to get rich (or is at least silent about the goodness or badness of wealth, and indifferent abou...

Even in a high-tech, non-stop age like ours--or maybe especially in such times--we need wise voices who can point us to spiritual truth from the flies and the honeybees, and who can call us to simplicity of lifestyle and of faith.  That's a least part of what led one of our Crazy Faith Talk conversation partners to highlight the perspective and wisdom of Paisios of Mount Athos, remembered as a sai...

In this new series, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve each highlight voices from the Christian family from traditions other than their own.  Since Christianity spans two millennia, numerous spiritual traditions, theological perspectives, and denominational histories from around the world, there are a lot of people we can learn from, even while we own and claim our own traditions and heritages.  In t...

The ability to bring out the best in someone else--that's a gift of God!  The capacity to manage and organize without making yourself the center of attention--that's a gift as well!  Same with the ability to help someone make sense of their situation in light of the stories and images of Scripture, or the ability to be generous in just the right ways someone else needs--these are all gifts from Go...

Something amazing happened on the day of Pentecost, mere weeks after Jesus' resurrection--a band of former fishermen and tax collectors started speaking about Jesus, and they could be heard and understood in languages they did not know, as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability.  Since then, the community of Jesus' followers has experience the Spirit's presence in ways that have to do with language...

Say the word "prophet," and a lot of folks assume you're talking about Nostrodamus-type soothsayers or the oracles of ancient Greek mythology who would utter esoteric predictions about the future.  But honestly, the people we call "prophets" in the biblical witness were more often people called by God to speak to their present times and situations, to speak truth to power, to call whole societies...

Some folks are certain they have witnessed a supernatural healing in their presence, and some folks are skeptical about anything that can't be explained by current science.  And somewhere in between is the tension between healthy questioning and an openness to a God who is beyond our comprehension.  In their series exploring spiritual gifts, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve find themselves looking...

While our wider culture may think of knowledge primarily in terms of facts to be memorized or diplomas on your wall, the followers of Jesus dare to believe that there is another kind of insight that is brought forth by the Spirit and isn't reducible to collections of data or even years of life experience.  It's the spiritual wisdom that comes from centering your life around the character and prior...

When people talk about their "spiritual gifts," it can sometimes sound like astrology signs or personality types, or just a religious-sounding way of talking about talents.  But when the biblical writers like Paul talk about spiritual gifts, they see something given by God to one person for the sake of the whole community.  There is a beautiful diversity of gifts, but they also exist for the benef...

If you've ever been moved to tears by a hymn or song of faith, or been stirred up to live your faith out by a powerful sermon, or encouraged through a difficult time by someone who gave you strength with their presence, you know what it's like to be touched by someone else's spiritual gifts.  And if you've ever had someone come up to you and say, "You're really great at building up a group to work...

In this final episode of their short series on the meaning and power of Easter hymns, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve explore a more recent hymn, entitled, "The Risen Christ," which casts Jesus less as a conquering king but as the wounded, living One who comes behind our locked doors, meets us in our fears, and still walks through the darkened places of the world bringing healing, life, and restor...

In their new series for the weeks following Easter, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve are looking at songs that help us celebrate and share the news of Jesus' resurrection.  And one of the most well-known in a lot of American churches of all sorts of stripes is a famous hymn of Charles Wesley's known as "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today."  In today's conversation, we'll look at how our songs of faith...

Easter is usually the time for the loudest and brightest-sounding songs in the hymnal, right?  We break out the trumpets and choirs, and we sing in boisterous, barn-burning major-key melodies, usually.  But sometimes we need a song that speaks the good news of resurrection and also names the reality of the cross at the same time, so we might just need to dare to sing an Easter song in a minor key....

If you think about it, the central story in the Christian faith is about a transition--from death to resurrection--that rearranges everything else around it.  And as much as we know the story of Easter is a joyful one, it also brings with it bittersweetness, and the anxiety of learning a "new normal."  So as we conclude this series on transition in life and in ministry, pastors Erica, Sarah, and S...

The important work of leaving well is an art, not a science. There's no formula for getting it all right, and no one-size-fits-all approach.  But there are some ideas, practices, and mindsets that can be helpful, both in a congregational setting and in the other goodbye moments of our lives, that can help us to say our "Farewell and Godspeed" in ways that are healthy.  As they near the end of this...

Whehter talking about pastors serving in congregational ministry, changes in jobs, moves across country, or transitions in our relationships (coming together or parting ways), how do you know "it's time"?  How do we do the difficult work of discerning where we need to be, how we need to use our gifts, and what we need to do with our time?  How do we hold our sense of "where God is leading me" toge...

Children of the 1990s know the lyric from the band Semisonic's song, "Closing Time," which goes, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."  And Fleetwood Mac sang honestly to an earlier generation, "I've been afraid of changing 'cause I built my life around you."  That's the challenge about being human--everything in in constant flux, and we are often afraid of change when it co...

What do congregations wish their new pastors would do or say as they begin serving together?  What do pastors wish their congregations knew about welcoming a new pastor into their midst?  As they continue their series on transitions in ministry, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at their own experiences at the beginnings of pastoral calls and appointments, as well as the stories and wisdom of o...

How do pastors come to be in the congregations where they serve?  How do they end up in new church settings?  And how do human processes, denominational structures and traditions, and the Holy Spirit all come together in the process?  As they start a new series this Lent, pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve look together at transitions in ministry, and how each of our stories and church traditions hav...

Today we're getting personal--well, a little bit.  Over the course of this series, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve have offered an overview of basics of different kinds of spiritual practices and disciplines, almost like an appetizer sampler platter at a restaurant.  But what are each of our hosts' favorite main courses for their own spiritual lives?  Hear from all three today with some personal t...

Why feed a hungry neighbor, or give clothing to someone without?  Why welcome a homeless family in your church building or bring soup over to someone recovering from surgery?  Obviously (we hope) just because these neighbors have the need, and we are called to love our neighbors.  But something else happens to us when we deliberately look for ways to serve neighbors--we are shaped, so that we beco...

We need each other--that's part of what it means to be human! We are made for relationships with one another, and that's certainly true in our spiritua lives as well.  So as we continue our series looking at spiritual practices for a new(ish) year, we invite you to look at how it can be helpful to have some kind of trusted accountabilty group, spiritual director, or other soul-friendships who can...

The practice of fasting is an odd duck--on the one hand, it might not seem like much fun to go without eating (or some other thing in our lives), no matter how long or short the fast might endure.  But on the other hand, fasting is an ancient practice used and known across religious traditions, and is one part of personal piety that Jesus assumes his followers will be doing in some form.  The Old...