Crazy Faith Talk

As they continue looking at where some of our most beloved hymns get their rooting in Scripture, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at a classic of the Wesleyan and Methodist tradition, "And Can It Be."  Written by prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley, this text weaves together themes and images from across the Scriptures as a way of expressing Charles' own "conversion" experience that moved him...

As our series exploring the Scriptural roots of beloved hymns new and old continues, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve take a look at a newer hymn by contemporary hymn-writer and poet Ray Makeever, called "Death Be Never Last."  It's a text born out of the personal experience of grief and loss that also points to the church's collective hope, not only of reunion with those who have gone before us, b...

Over and over again in the Scriptures, we discover stories of God's enduring faithfulness and love even in the face of faithless people who flake out.  It's God's repeated mercy on the wayward ancient Israelites.  It's God's unconditional love for Abraham and Sarah, and even scheming Jacob, despite their failures and doubts.  It's the generous father running out to meet the lost son while he's a l...

In their newest series for this summer, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve continue exploring hymns new and old for the ways that their poetry draws from the Scriptures, and how those hymns and songs of our faith help us to put in words what we sometimes struggle to express on our own.  In this episode, we look at the modern classic, "Here I Am, Lord," (also known as "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky") and...

In this first episode of a new series this summer, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve invite you to take a closer listen at some well-known hymns, new and old, to look at where they come from in the Scriptures.  Sometimes we learn the faith by singing it, rather than memorizing Bible verses or listening to sermons.  So what happens in that interplay between the listening ear, the thinking brain, the...

In this final episode of our series on Things the Bible DOESN'T Say, we're looking at something many were sure comes straight from the heart of the Bible--the notion of being able to point to a single moment in your life when you definitively "asked Jesus into your heart" or "accepted him as your personal Savior" by praying some form of a "sinner's prayer" to "get saved."  And even though those ma...

In times of stress and hardship, church folk are often heard to recite like a matnra, "God doesn't give us any more than we can handle." And as well-known a religious cliche as that may be, is that actually what the Bible says?  In this week's episode of Crazy Faith Talk, we'll explore this idea, the original context of the verse from Corinthians that often gets (mis)remembered, and how we face th...

Plenty of people have heard (or caught themselves reciting) the little mantra "This too shall pass," and it's easy to think it's a quote from the Bible.  The truth is a bit more complicated than that, and while a well-known fable connects that slogan with King Solomon, it's not actually contained as a phrase in the Scriptures.  On the other hand, there is a chorus of voices in the Scriptures who w...

As we're discovering in this series, sometimes a phrase or a line that we have heard a thousand times, attributed to the Bible, doesn't actually come from the Bible, or loses some important background context.  That's definitely the case when we hear the line, "Money is the root of all evil," which is really a sort of partially-remembered version of "The love of money is a root of all kinds of all...

In this second episode of our series on things that many have assumed are in the Bible, but actually aren't, pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve explore a theology of prayer and faith, and what will keep us from thinking God is a genie responding to our wishes or a celestial vending machine obligated to give us what we demand.  Especially when faith is sometimes invoked to criticize people who have su...

In a new series starting this week, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve are going to take closer look at things that AREN'T in the Bible, but which a lot of us may have heard, assumed, or believed were there.  Our first conversation starts with a sentiment that actually predates the Bible itself and goes back to ancient Greek philosophers thinking about the "gods" or some generic conception of the div...

In the Scriptures, the Spirit of God is always in the midst of bringing things to life.  From the Spirit brooding over the dark chaos at creation, to the breath of God bringing a lump of clay to life as a human being, to the vision of dry bones being called to life again by the Spirit-led prophet, to the gifts given to the disciples at Pentecost, the Bible often talks about the Spirit wherever peo...

After having to find ways to stay connected without being in the same room together during the initial wave of the COVID pandemic in 2020, many churchgoers rediscovered their appreciation for being together in community.  And if we've learned anything from that experience, hopefully it at least includes the call not to take for granted our opportunities to be together as God's people.  There's a r...

To hear the opening story of creation in the Bible tell it, all of God's creation, and all its many forms of life, all fit together supporting one another and giving life to one another.  Human beings, too, are placed in a role of being stewards who nurture life, who help foster its growth with beauty, and we find our own sense of purpose at least partially in how we care for the world God made an...

Sometimes it can feel like we have huge burdens of responsibility placed on us and we don't know how to let them go or catch our breath.  When the things you usually enjoy or have a sense of accomplishment from seem fruitless, or when your bad days outnumber your good days at work or home, you may be moving beyond just tired to burning out.  And that can be a great deal more difficult to recover f...

The storytelling in the book of Acts records the spread of the early Jesus-movement like it was an explosion--it can seem like the first generation of Christians had it all figured out and reached every corner of their world with lighting-fast speed and unmitigated success.  But even just a closer, more honest, read of the New Testament reminds us that the early church had both times of rapid prog...

Easter celebrates the good news that Jesus' resurrection somehow gives life and hope for us all, but... what exactly do we mean by that?  In a new series for this Eastertide, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve take a look at what we mean when we talk about Jesus giving us life.  And starting with what might seem obvious, we start with the way the early Christian community made the startling claim tha...

Throughout the season of Lent, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve have been looking at practices and disciplines that are often taken up in the season of Lent--things like new ways of prayer, fasting [whether from food or other things], and generosity.  But once we leave behind the forty days of Lent, what are we supposed to do?  How might some practices continue on as part of our long-term Christian...

Throughout the season of Lent, many Christians take on new practices or return to annual disciplines to refocus our faith and discipleship.  Over the course of these weeks, pastors Sarah, Steve, and Erica have explored some of those traditional practices, ranging from fasting to prayer to almsgiving and other sorts of variations on them.  But as Lent turns to Holy Week, a different kind of ancient...

So far this Lent, we've looked at creative ways to fast, either from food or in uses of our time and technology, and we've looked at creative ways of praying.  But how can we be "creative" in giving away money?  What's the difference between giving to my local church for its regular maintenance and ministry work and charitably giving to others in need?  And do I get to put strings or conditions on...

When you want to deepe your relationship with another person or reconnect with them after a season of growing apart, you make time to connect with them.  What if we saw the church's season of Lent as a chance to do the same with God by deepening our prayer lives?  And what if, instead of making that "one more thing to do" that we felt we have to check off our already-busy schedules, we looked for...

As we continue our series for Lent 2023, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve continue to look at new ways to consider traditional spiritual practices and disicplines people may take up in these forty days.  While many people are familiar with the idea of fasting from food--at least as a concept--the idea of other kinds of fasts can be helpful, too, as we take an inventory of what really matters in our...

In the second episode of our series for Lent 2023, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at an ancient spiritual practice with roots not only in the past two thousand years of Christian history, but also going even further back to the spiritual life of ancient Israel: fasting from food. Whether it was Daniel and friends' fasting from meat as an act of defiance against the Babylonian Empire, the pro...

Let's be honest: Lent is a strange critter.  Some devoutly observe this seaon of forty days with dedication by giving something up, or adding a spiritual practice to their lives for this season every year.  Others are worried that it comes off as too showy or self-righteous to fast or change their habits for a season.  And for some, this season just looks like a second chance to start New Year's R...

In this final episode of our series on finding honesty and hope in situations of death and dying, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve spend time looking at two extremes: situations where medical choices may hasten death in the name of relieving suffering, and situations where life ends in infancy or during a pregnancy.  These situations are especially difficult but for almost opposite reasons. In situ...