Feed Your Spirit

Evaluation
There is nothing like an evaluation to shake things up. Paul and Barnabas are doing a review. They are taking the risk of looking back. If you love something, like the gospel, enough, you won't dare be unaccountable to it.

For the Institutionalized
I'm not saying every committee meeting the church has ever held mattered; most of them didn't. I'm saying that all institutions are annoying, AND that the church is the one that brought your faith to you. So when you're feeling ground down by yours, right after you refuse to chair another task force, but before you decide to quit forever, just remember this: the work you're doing is at least as much for your grandkids as it is for you.

Write Your Own Ending
You may not be able to find today's reading in the regular part of your Bible. Chances are good that it is hidden in the footnotes in very small print with a line that says, "Not part of the best manuscripts, probably added later." Mark, scholars tell us, really ends at 16: 8 with the words, "They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid." That doesn't so much end as it breaks off. But then someone came along and added on. Wanted to pretty it up.

Restless
Relationships, love, and even our own faith leave us "restless," as Augustine put it, until our hearts rest in the assurance only God provides and nothing less.

Not "Staff"
A few years back I got grumpy about hearing myself, as an ordained minister, referred to as "staff," as in "our church staff." In a way, of course, it was true. My colleagues and I were "church staff." But in another way it seemed to me misleading and a bad sign.

Overlooking Insults
It's only natural to want to give an immediate response to an insult. If we've been injured, we feel that we have the right to respond immediately with wrathful indignation. After all, the sooner we let those who hurt us know how we feel, the better. And if our responses are bitter and acidic, so be it! Maybe next time they'll think twice before they cross the line with us.

Lessons from the Shoe Museum
I was struck by how long human beings have been torn between practicality and beauty. In some rare cases, they pulled off both, as was the case with a pair of Cherokee moccasins covered in hand-sewn glass beads hundreds of years ago. They looked both beautiful and comfortable, something to delight both the wearer and the world. But do we always have to strike that balance? As Marilyn Monroe’s bright red stilettos bear witness, sometimes the extremes are what we remember most.

A New Thing
So here's what happened. The Apostle Stephen had been preaching in Jerusalem. As good Christian preaching sometimes will, his sermon angered his audience. They stoned him, and that understandably scared many of the other apostles out of town.

Sweet Spot
Many people claim that to be at the center of conflicting ideas and opposing opinions is valueless. Many believe that compromise is never a viable option.

Still Open and Affirming, After "All" these Years
It seems like a long time ago that our church went through the Open and Affirming process and made a statement welcoming all people to the church. But when I look at my calendar, I see that it was only two and a half years ago. In a congregation that is celebrating its 150th anniversary, that is very recent history.