Intersections

Representative John Lewis, a towering figure for civil rights, coined the phrase "good trouble." This week's text says some wrongs need to be righted: there are systems, presumptions and prejudices, oppressive patterns, and economic cycles that are impossible to break out of without help. We are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. What does that transformation look like?   Wait - you might be thinking that this is going to get political... No - don't worry. It might get political, but not in the way you think. At least - not in any more than I have been any other week. Isn't it political to call for the transformation of the world? Doesn't that cast a vision on how we want to live?  In that vision, do we sing about peace and stop studying war? Shall we pray about an end to hunger and living into God's abundance even here and now in our fruitful world? Who can we look to partner with?  These are questions to ask when ...

  How do you deal with change? I'm not trying to give you any subtext here... but just trust me. I'd like to think that I deal with change really well. Plenty of weird stuff has happened in my life that I've had to accept what is and adjust. But one that most of you could probably relate with... the night before Tadj was admitted to the hospital when Ali's due date had passed. Over the course of the next couple of days, which were kind of a blur, our family grew from two to three. We had anticipated becoming parents, and read all the books, thought we knew what to expect... but as we were leaving the hospital, like many people experiencing the same thing, thinking... you're just gonna let me leave with this thing? Driving away it's not like I had to show papers to anyone...   the change over the next month or so was really more what it's about. Those late night and early mornings were quite a change to how free-wheeling and footloose we had been even the wee...

  The last few weeks since Easter, we've been considering what it's like to be a witness to Jesus' resurrection, and what the early church did as written in the book of Acts. We are shifting away from the well-known stories of Peter and Paul to this lesser known story of Tabitha this morning. Now, this is kind of a strange story, and one that almost doesn't seem appropriate for Mother's Day. Even though there's a resurrection in our story today, there's no mention of Jesus. The witnesses were even sent out of the room, so what's he trying to pull... There's really no explanation for this other than Peter trying to toot his own horn.  But here's the spoiler - this story isn't about Peter. This story is about the impact that Tabitha has made on her community. She saw the others among her, especially the poor, the first says in the Living Bible translation. She was a seamstress and so she did what she could with what she had.  When she die...

One of my favorite months of the year is here! May is my birth month and after the turbulent weather throughout April, hopefully it will stabilize and just keep getting warmer! Since the weather is getting nice outside, I know I’ll be rising up out of my chair and trying to get outside more often.   Rising up could just be the act of changing from a sitting position to a standing one. It could also mean asserting one’s rights against injustice. A third definition is that it could be coming together to support one another in a time of crisis.  The verse that I chose this from is Acts 9:40, where Peter is bringing Tabitha back from the dead and he says to her, in the King James’ version, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.  God wants us to be partners, not puppets. As much as our lives belong to God, we are working together for the glory of the Kingdom. We need to have a relationship to be partners though. Could you imagine h...

     Last week, we were with Peter while he and some other disciples are in court for preaching and teaching the Gospel. The Sanhedrin wanted to quash this new movement that has started with Jesus, so they are trying to root them out and silence them.       We come this week to a familiar passage, the conversion of Saul. The whole story continues from our passage today until verse 20, and I encourage for you to read the rest of it some time this week. It’s only another… fifteen verses or so, pretty easy.       Now, our main character this week is Saul. He’s what some may call a pretty bad hombre. He was a Pharisee, and was introduced in chapter 8 as the one who approved of the apostle Stephen’s killing, which he also witnessed. That’s kind of his background right now at the beginning when it says “STILL threatening and plotting against the disciples”, like a bull in a china shop, or a rabid animal after its prey. His story continues...