Pastor’s Blog
Welcome to the Pastor’s Blog. Here you will find our pastors’ reflections on scripture, culture, and the life of discipleship. If a particular blog gets you thinking, consider sharing it with a friend. Thanks for being here!
Lighten Our Darkness
Against the background of the darkness in our lives, the prophet Isaiah announces the dawning of light. Into the darkness of chaos and despair, Isaiah’s words shine a light that illuminates the central claim of the Gospel: rescue is coming. To those who sit in darkness, or fear, or failure, or want… Rescue is coming.
Faith as Politics
A politic is the way a community organizes the common life of the people. Done right, politics seek to bring people together in ways that allow ALL life to flourish. As Christians, we are people ordered around the life and teachings of Jesus. In every circumstance, then, we MUST be asking the question, “Who is Jesus and what does he require of me as one of his followers?” Christianity, founded on the life and teachings of Jesus, is its own politic with its own things to say about what human flourishing and a just common life require.
Binging the Bible
From food to mass media, the things we consume change us on the inside. If that’s true, wouldn’t we all live happier, more grace-filled lives if we spent more time consuming the Word of God?
The Importance of Place
Places are important; they matter a lot because they have to do with belonging. And the more we know a place, the more attuned we are to the needs of that land and its people… the more invested we are in caring for its wellness. With familiarity comes affection and sympathy, such that the specific place or places we know most intimately… those are the places we usually end up calling “home.”
The Spirit of Pentecost
I love the Pentecost story! Like Christmas and Easter, there’s something wonderfully mysterious about this holy day that compels us to come and see for ourselves what all the commotion is about. It’s about welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives; it’s about getting swept up into the story of Jesus and his love, building our faith on the foundation of that story, and then sharing it with others. Bottom line, Pentecost comes down to one thing: our confession of faith. Will we accept the Spirit’s invitation to believe in the truths of who Jesus is and commit our lives to following him and his ways?
Spreading Joy this May Day
At its simplest and its best, that’s what May Day is all about: spreading joy and celebrating the start of a new season. It’s an occasion for us to practice generosity, to communicate our appreciations and affections, and—if we do it right—to rediscover in ourselves a God-given playfulness hardwired into every creature.
Holy Week at Home: Devotional Activities for Holy Week
Holy Week is a time of holy waiting. We know something beautiful is near, but we cannot yet see the completed picture. And so we watch and wait. As we watch and wait from our homes this year, many of us long to make Holy Week more meaningful for ourselves and our families. Here are a few simple ideas for families of all sizes and ages to connect to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with just a few minutes each evening.
Biblical Fasting for Lent
The act of fasting or giving something up for Lent has been a common Christian practice for centuries. But it turns out there are a lot of misconceptions and mis-practices when it comes to fasting faithfully. Fasting—very simply—is a spiritual practice that helps redirect our attention and our affection toward God. That’s it. It’s easy to fall into this idea that fasting is about deprivation for deprivation’s sake… that somehow unwavering piety or religious obedience is what God wants of us. But God doesn’t want your deprivation; God wants your attention and your affection.
The Gospel According to Trees
With scripture as our guide, it is possible to follow the trail of trees through the Bible to see how they stand as witnesses to—and sometimes characters in—the major events of the Bible from Adam and Eve’s habitation of the Garden of Eden to Jesus’ crucifixion.
Taste & See that God Is Good
The eating we do every day is sacred. The dinner table is sacred space. The time we spend with one another is Communion. Food and drink and conversation and laughter are evidence that heaven is real, and it can be here on earth.
Unrequited Love - Finding Peace in What Our Relationships Actually Are
To be grateful for the very particular relationship we share with another person and appreciate its beauty requires that we settle into the present moment with that person rather than some imaginary, wished-for future. Try loving what your relationships are instead of lamenting all the ways they aren’t what they could be, and see if that opens your eyes to their beauty.
Beautiful Things: The Art of Creation
God is endlessly creative, and in creative love God designed the world. As part of that design, God brought together the gifts of creativity, joy, and imagination into a special means of worship: ART.
8 Ways You Can Stay Active in Your Faith This Summer
Summertime! With backyard barbeques, pick-up ultimate frisbee games in the park, and out-of-town adventures, it’s a season of increased activity. Here’s a list of ways you can stay active in your faith this summer!
What in God’s Name Are You Doing?!
Whatever and whomever it is that motivates us in our daily labors, our discipleship as followers of Christ requires that we begin and end our understanding of our lives’ vocations with the response, “we are working for the Lord.”
The Way of the Cross
Easter is coming, and we are an Easter people made new in Christ who is worthy of our highest praise. But Jesus—and we who are his followers—arrive at Easter only by way of the cross.
The Heart of Faith
In this season of love centered around Valentine’s Day, there’s ample opportunity for us to express our love via teddy bears, assorted chocolates, roses, or a well-worded Hallmark card. But American pop culture isn’t the only one with something to say on the matter. Love is at the heart of the entire Christian story, and it enters the story from the very beginning.
Justice and Jesus on Main Street
Take a ride on the city bus with us down Durham, North Carolina’s Main Street from one end of the line to the other. Along the 3.7-mile route, we’ll see how racism, homelessness, and systemic injustice try to divide the town. But the living Christ is there too, holding all things together in love.
A Home for the Holidays
A lot of preparation goes into readying our homes to play host for the holidays. In 1 Peter 2:4-5, the Apostle Peter says that as you come to Jesus you are being built into a spiritual home. Are we putting as much love and attention into preparing your spiritual house to host God as we put into preparing our homes to host family and friends this holiday season?
Loving Beyond Fear
On street corners around Durham, North Carolina, community members are sharing memories of loved children of God lost to gun violence. In their sharing, they are brought into the ongoing work of making creation whole. It’s Communion… a shalom-making reconciliation that starts with brokenness and transforms it into abundant life... into God’s peaceable kingdom.
A Mourning Meal
Have you ever given or received a sympathy meal after a death in the family? In the face of grief, these meals can be much more than sustenance, much more than delicious. As manifestations of God’s love, they are avenues for healing. Baked deep into their savory sauces and sweet, yeasty centers is an earnest love that holds for those in mourning a much-needed reminder: we are not alone in our grief.