When I think of Jesus, I think of freedom. I think of the freedom grace gives us, the freedom to be ourselves, the freedom to be human, the freedom to mess up sometimes (because we are human).
Connections 06.30.2019: Set Free for Freedom
June 23, 2019 by
From the time children are old enough to understand the word “no,” they rebel against the limitations of rules. My younger daughter, Natalie, was curious and sneaky at age one.
Connections 06.23.2019: Christian Clothes
June 16, 2019 by
Some people try to express their convictions and commitments through their clothing.
Flame: A Lesson in Self-Control
July 25, 2018 by
Today we continued studying the fruit of the Spirit by looking at self-control. We tried a game to start that involved marbles and cut up paper towel tubes.
Formations 10.29.2017: Call and Response
October 22, 2017 by
It’s a simple record with only voices and a few percussion instruments that begins when Jenkins gives the group of children accompanying her these instructions: Many of you, I’m sure, have played the game follow the leader. Well, you can play the same kind of game in song and sound. Here’s how we play it.
Connections 10.29.2017: Sharing Ourselves
October 22, 2017 by
Shon Hopwood is from a small town in Nebraska. He is also a convicted felon who served eleven years in a federal penitentiary for bank robbery. He was arrested in July 1998 after participating in five robberies over the previous ten months. After being convicted, he went to prison in May 1999.
Formations 10.22.2017: Morality and Conformity
October 15, 2017 by
A new study from the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden, has demonstrated what many of us already know intuitively: that our view of what is morally right or wrong is shaped by how widespread a particular behavior is. These findings come from a combination of behavioral experiments, mathematical models, and computer simulations.
Formations 10.15.2017: No Longer
October 8, 2017 by
In 2015, John Legend and Common’s song “Glory,” written for the movie Selma, won an Oscar for the best original song. That same year, I worked for Passport camps, an ecumenical youth camp, and every night this was one of many songs that helped us to prepare for worship. As I read this week’s passage and tried to start making sense of Paul’s vision of belonging and freedom in Christ, this song returned to me.
Formations 10.08.2017: Dance with the One that Brought You
October 1, 2017 by
After recounting his dealings with Peter and the other Jerusalem leaders in chapter 2, Paul launches into the main topic of his letter: “doing the works of the Law” versus “believing what you heard” (3:2). Which of these, Paul asks, is the basis for the blessings God has poured out on us?
Formations 10.01.2017: Freedom Resisted
September 24, 2017 by
As Paul introduces his letter to the Galatians, he speaks of “another gospel” preached in their community. It is, he says, “not really another gospel” but an attempt “to change the gospel of Christ” (v. 7). Paul quickly and assuredly rejects this other gospel so as to preserve the one that “delivered us [set us free,” NRSV] from this present evil age” (v. 4).
Formations 06.07.2015: United in Christ
May 31, 2015 by
Like many southern cities, Macon, Georgia has two Baptist churches with the word “First” in their names. The First Baptist Church of Christ, is predominantly white. The First Baptist Church a block away is predominantly African American.