Category: Deepen

For people wanting to develop their spiritual practice.

A Dynamic Faith

About ten years ago I got an email about Grace Commons (then called Wicker Park Grace) that said this: Before our discussions I naively thought that Christianity was a one dimensional theology with minor shifts in beliefs across denominations; and I definitely thought that it did not coincide with my own world view. However, after …

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Listen to Your Life

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is …

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Church for the 21st Century

I just returned from a 3-day leadership consultation with the national offices of the Presbyterian Church (USA). My good friend and colleague, Rev. Shawna Bowman was there too. She wrote/drew the amazing notes above, while we were talking about new things that are happening or that we wish were happening in the churches. The gathering …

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Be Amazing

For the last two weeks I’ve been preaching on 1 Corinthians 12, the verses where it talks about us having a variety of gifts empowered by the same spirit. It’s a message that Paul was giving to the church at Corinth, so that all people in the community would be honored and so that people …

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Unambiguous Appearance of God

Today is Epiphany, a day on which we celebrate the appearance of God in human form–the incarnation. Although we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, today we celebrate the first “appearance” of Jesus to the Gentiles. This marks his being seen by the Magi, the “three kings.” They symbolize the first non-Jews who …

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