a Church Podcast

The future of the world is in great peril.   To whom should be rely on to save the day?  Our likely candidates are those who have the qualities that our society values.   What our world actually needs, however, are unlikely heroes who offer us something more than power and money.     Support the show

Learning a new language is not easy.  Cross-cultural experiences, however, are valuable because there is so much to learn and experience when we step outside of our normal.  This is especially true for religious communities who have been taught to speak in the language of "I'm right and everyone else is wrong."  We need different people, perspectives and faith expressions to help te...

Jesus recalls this story from 1 Samuel 21 to illustrate that people are more important than our religious symbols and signs.  But sometimes faith communities just gather at the sign, to talk about the sign and keep people from getting too close to the sign, because the sign is the thing.   But the sign is not the thing.  People are what matter.   Support the show

Mr. Bean, Weird Al, James Bond, Buster Bluth, Homer Simpson and Ferris Bueller all used this trick found in the Bible.  David's wife, Michal, used it to save her husband's life.   Support the show

There are so many things that divide us, including music.  But how can music in church become a practice that teaches us how to better coexist in this divided world? Support the show

What if the Bible included the different stories and the contradiction and the errors on purpose?  What if the Biblical writers and communities said, “ we actually prefer the contradictions, because one perspective isn’t enough, and one story isn’t enough to capture the human experience or our understanding of faith. " Support the show

Sometimes we think that our strengths are always strengths, and our weaknesses are always weaknesses.  But sometimes we lean so heavily on our strengths that we fail to develop other skills or ways of being in the world.  And sometimes our failures and weaknesses become strengths because we learn how to adapt, change or embrace our limitations.   We learn how to treat others with more grace and co...

Why is music such an important part of our experience and expression of faith?   Support the show

Things are not always as they appear.  Most of life is lived under the surface and our faith is intended to take us to those deeper places where we might discover something new.   Support the show

Welcome our guest speaker Anjlo Ajmal.  Anjlo is originally from Pakistan, has been a pastor of a Punjabi church in France and is now a student at Claremont School of Theology.   Support the show

I asked Artificial Intelligence to write my sermon this week.   I think I still have some time before I get replaced by an AI pastor.     Support the show

Like all of us, King Saul, is a complicated person.  In chapter 11 he is faced with his first great challenge.  How will he lead his people?   How will we live and lead?     Support the show

Have you ever had a bizarre experience that caused you to wonder, "does this mean something?"  Perhaps it's easy to dismiss these moments as "just coincidences," but why not let even these strange experiences take us deeper.  Support the show

The first time we meet Saul, the would-be-king, he is wandering aimlessly looking for his donkeys.  The story is done telling us that a king is a bad idea and now it's simply showing us.   And yet, God is still there.   Support the show

You don't have to agree with someone in order to listen.    Out of fear the people want a king, which according to Samuel and God, is a terrible idea that will cause much suffering.  But God still wants Samuel to listen.   Support the show

What does it mean when God loses and gets captured in battle?  Well, it depends on who you are and what you bring to the story or experience.    Support the show

Humans are incredible in all of the ways that we can create, invent or utilize good things for good.  But Humans are also incredible because inevitably we think, "how can we use this as a weapon?"   Support the show

Happy Mothering Day!  We are glad to have our friend Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins with us today as our guest preacher.   Support the show

Faith shouldn't be so hard.  That's what I said last week.  No let's consider how faith shouldn't always be so easy.   Support the show

If you go into a Starbucks anywhere in the world you will find the same thing.  The same environment, the same service, and the same coffee.   This one-size-fits-all philosophy has been pretty successful, so why not apply it to faith?  Pray and worship and serve in this one right way and you'll feel connected with God!  Sounds good, except there's one important problem.  You are not a fr...

As followers of Jesus, are we allowed to us "religious freedom" as an excuse to harm or exclude others?  Quite simply, "No!"  Wherever there is injustice and inequality, especially within Christianity, Jesus' way of love will call for change and transformation.   Support the show

There once was a man who had two sons...   This is a familiar story about a prodigal son that surprisingly reveals God's wild and irresponsible love for all of creation.   Support the show

Happy Easter!  Christ is Risen!  The lesson of the story of Jonah is that exclusion will swallow us alive.  Love and compassion, however, are experiences and expression of resurrection life.   Support the show

Jonah went too far west and then too far east because he was angry about God being good.  This is the upside-down nature of a Christianity that loves it when God is kind toward us, but angry when God is kind toward "those people." Support the show

Will this great empire turn from its violent ways?  More than that will God repent and turn from God's violent ways?  This week in Jonah chapter 3, both Nineveh and God shows us that change is possible.   Support the show