Annoying Grace

To be the church is to be the body of Christ. Like like the body of Christ in the gospel story, the church needs to undergo death and resurrection. I don’t pretend to know what resurrection might look like. But I do offer some suggestions for what it means to be the church in the meantime. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

What’s with the Gospel of John’s preoccupation with John the Baptist in its opening chapter? The answer just may surprise you. Or it may not. Does anyone actually read these little summaries? I don’t. And I write them. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

An episode in two parts. In the first, a lament for the state of our nation under Trump. It’s Good Friday in America. Thinking about it as such underscores the gravity of our situation but also speaks to the need to stay hopeful. Now, if you like things with abrupt shifts in tone, this is the episode for you. The second part is my ploy to boost my subscriber total: a fan letter. Subscribe now so y...

The plan for this episode was simply talk some more about forgiveness in the face of failure. But then Renee Good was killed. Her death and the administration’s response to it makes the need to resist all the more urgent. What does it mean to do so in a way that reflects the hope of Easter? Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

Way back in my campus ministry days, I took a ten-day wilderness trip through the mountains of West Virginia. The first time we canoed some rapids, boy, I blew it. Thankfully, some thirty years later, I can say I learned something from the experience. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

The Lord’s Prayer does not end on a high note— at least not the oldest versions of it. No, it ends with a request that we not be exposed for frauds. It is an admission that the best parts of ourselves are limited and conditional. This, however, can be the basis for building a meaningful spiritual life. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

'Matthew and Luke part company at this point in the Lord’s prayer. This episode investigates Matthew’s version— a version which echoes the message Leviticus 25 and the idea of Jubilee. Hearing it in Jubilee context helps us understand forgiveness as part of the work of seeing the kingdom come. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

Another break from the Lord’s prayer. These are three monologues I wrote for a church service a few years ago. I’m so grateful to local actors Clara Walton and Mary Ann Moran for lending their talents to this episode and to Laura Moran Walton for recording them. If you appreciate the music for these episodes, keep it to yourself since none of it features my intermediate guitar playing. I acquired...

After requesting that God bring the kingdom of heaven to earth, the Lord’s Prayer takes a surprisingly mundane turn— or at least it appears that way on the surface. In reality this seemingly simple petition offers insight into who we are as people and our relationship to the planet. Plus: a guest appearance from Satan. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/s...

“Give us this day our daily bread” won’t be given this day. In this episode I go over why. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

“Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a petition with roots in Genesis and our calling as a species made to bear the Divine image. We were created to cultivate life. Unfortunately, we mostly see our god-like capabilities utilized to bring death. So we pray. We pray that the realm of life— eternal life— breaks into this one. As discussed, Trump’s willingness to stir...

Jesus’ prayer invites to reframe our experience in light of eternity, to open ourselves to the realm of the infinite and address the God we meet there as our parent. We then pray that this God’s name is hallowed. I don’t want prioritizing this to turn me into someone I don’t want to be around— like a Pam Bondi for the Almighty. And, thankfully, I don’t think it’s supposed to. In the end, I think i...

What is it that the disciples are asking when they ask Jesus to teach them to pray? What is it that prayer is supposed to do? Looking at how Jesus has us address God offers a chance to examine these questions and others. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

I’m not a planner— and so, to this point, episodes have been very week to week. However, all that is about to change— well, it’s going to change for the next six weeks. For reasons discussed in the episode, I’m not going to just come out and say the plan. I’m worried that it sounds lame. The good news is that this episode isn’t. It includes my favorite experience from my time as a chaplain that bo...

When MAGA says it wants to make America great again, the question is always when was it great and then when did that stop? The 50s? The Gilded Age? The founding? The reason there’s no clear answer is because the question misses the point. It’s not a historical reference. It’s a psychological need. And no matter how bad Trump is as president, the need is likely to remain. What, then, do the rest of...

For various reasons, my attempt to be a high school teacher did not pan out. At all. My hope is that, with this episode, I demonstrate that at least I learned a few things from the experience. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

“Who am I as a man?” is not a question I’ve asked myself. Not seriously anyway. But the fact is we are living in the midst of a cultural revolution around notions of gender and sexuality. And this has ticked a lot of people off. And a lot of those ticked off people appeal to the Bible to justify their anger. I think that’s misguided. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace...

We make the four-and-a-half hour drive in about six-and-a-half hour drive to Toronto and the Canadian National Exhibition— which turns out to be the perfect place to celebrate the formation of my daughters’ identities and our relationship. But it turns out the trip is not only a celebration of how got to this point but of where things go from here. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda a...

Someone once told me that divorce does not end a relationship. It just changes it. There’s a lot of truth in that. In this episode, we wade into that truth up to our necks. I give a shout-out in this one to Peter Bourland who was very helpful in trying to navigate my relationship to my daughters. If you need some life-coaching, I highly recommend: https://bourlandstrategicadvisors.com/ Get full ac...

This episode describes my attempts to reckon with the 17th-century Puritan writer John Bunyan— not only while I was a graduate student back in the late 90s but today, in the age of troop deployments to U.S. cities. Even as his popularity as a writer is waning, Bunyan’s theological legacy remains. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve been haunted by an episode of OnScript since I heard it last year— in part because current events keep providing fresh opportunities to consider the implications of what that episode’s guest said. At a time when Charlie Kirk is held up as a martyr for the faith and transphobia wins elections, we need to reconsider crucifixion and its implications before Christian Nationalists can implement an...

I resigned from ministry in the Christian Reformed Church ten years ago. It was grueling. For everyone involved. I don’t know what others learned from the experience. This offers a glimpse into what I did. But, if that’s not enough to pique your interest, listen for the plot twist! It’s a good one! Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe

I used to be homophobic— but, like most who held my traditional views on such things, I believed it was a well-intended. This week offers a description of my own evolution on these matters and my attempts to grapple with friendships where my current view is not shared. NOTE: This episode makes references to Episodes 5 and 6. Check those out first to have context for this one. Get full access to An...

Following up on the previous episode, more stories from my time as a camp counselor in the mid-nineties. Each session involved a camp out. Camp outs tended to expose my weaknesses as a counselor—the way the post-apocalypse will likely expose my weaknesses. My skills or lack thereof demonstrate that I have bet the farm on the continuity of modern civilization. Get full access to Annoying Grace by M...

As this summer draws to a close, here is the first of two episodes about the summers I spent at Camp Tall Turf, a sleep-away camp started in response to racial tensions in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Chicago in the late sixties. Get full access to Annoying Grace by Mark Roeda at annoyinggrace.substack.com/subscribe