The Christian proclamation that God raised Jesus from the dead is the basis for the Christian faith and, at the same time, a huge stumbling block for many people. “When you’re dead you’re dead,” we say.
A View from the Pew: Resurrecting Churches after the Pandemic
April 14, 2021 by
The strains of “He Lives!” still echo in my mind as the joy of my church’s outdoor Easter worship brought home the reality of the Resurrection and the work ahead for our church in a post-pandemic future.
Crossroads: I Doubt It
April 12, 2021 by
When I was a child, we always played a game called “I doubt it” when we went on vacation. It was a card game and the point was to be the person who got rid of all of their cards first.
Formations 04.04.2021: Change of Plans
March 28, 2021 by
Have you ever put a lot of effort into a task and then not gotten to do it? Maybe you did a ton of research.
Connections 04.04.2021: Here, There, and Wherever
March 28, 2021 by
Look at Mary. She is right here. She is standing outside the tomb, weeping. She has already discovered the empty tomb.
Formations 04.19.2020: On the Threshold of Resurrection
April 12, 2020 by
Liminality is a word anthropologists use to describe experiences that happen on life’s borderlands. Coming from the Latin word for “threshold,” a liminal experience involves crossing from one state to another.
A Resurrection
May 7, 2019 by
Deep into Avengers: Endgame, a brief moment knocked the wind out of me, even though I knew it was coming. If you haven’t been keeping up with the blockbuster behemoth, the previous movie (Infinity War) ends with the intergalactic villain Thanos…
Formations 04.28.2019: Witnesses to the Resurrection
April 21, 2019 by
I’ve noticed that Easter brings my attention to the place I call home. Often, it has been the geography of my particular neighborhood.
Formations 04.23.2017: Sitting a While with Thomas
April 16, 2017 by
According to a new survey, fully one-fourth of British people who identify themselves as Christian say they do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Hobson urges a certain degree of restraint in our responses to such people. After all, our universal human experience is that dead people stay dead. To say otherwise flies in the face of all that we know about how the world works.
Connections 04.23.2017: Four Things to Remember in John
April 16, 2017 by
For me, this passage contains some of the most moving and powerful moments in John’s entire Gospel. There are four specific things I love about it.
Connections 04.16.2017: The Gardener
April 9, 2017 by
When the ordinary meets the extraordinary, chances are pretty good that the ordinary will try to cut the extraordinary down to size. It’s understandable. After all, we’re limited by our experience, and our experience is mighty limited.
Formations 04.02.2017: Smells and Resurrection
March 26, 2017 by
How much is the experience of Lazarus’s death present in his resuscitated life? How does acknowledging his death change her memories of his life? What would Lazarus’s death mean for the life he returned to just after?
Formations 06.26.2016: Mary Magdalene and the Gardener
June 19, 2016 by
Halfway through drafting this post, I realized I was guilty of oversimplification in order to find a moral in this story. I hadn’t determined if I would praise Mary for recognizing Jesus’ resurrection or chide her for missing it at first.
His Heart Went Out to Her
June 8, 2016 by
There is this simple moment that is essential to my understanding of Jesus. Sometimes I think we see him as almost a miracle-working robot, the unstoppable antithesis of the Terminator. He was sent to our Earth to save, heal, and point others towards God.
Connections 01.31.2016: When Death Comes
January 24, 2016 by
Death came into my life during the night when I was around ten years old, taking with it a beautiful white dog named Princess. A few more dogs followed over the years, one of which I raised from a tiny puppy.
Formations 04.05.2015: Easter Faith
March 29, 2015 by
The resurrection of Jesus is Christianity’s greatest story. It is the event that set in motion everything believers hold to as distinctively Christian.
Uniform 04.05.2015: Of Resurrection and Moon Landings
March 29, 2015 by
On this Sunday, a high holy day for Christians around the world, many Americans will observe a holy moment in pop culture: the premiere of the final season of Mad Men.
Formations 01.11.2015: Praying in Times of Tragedy
January 4, 2015 by
After showing hospitality to Elijah and seeing her meager provisions miraculously multiplied, we readers might have been lulled into thinking that the widow of Zarephath’s problems were now over.
Crossroads: Recognizing and Remembering
June 23, 2014 by
My father lives in the same small town where I grew up as a child. Though I moved away more than 25 years ago, I enjoy going back to this community to visit a few times each year. When we go back for these visits, I often see people around town who our family has known for many years.
Formations 04.20.2014: TV Show Asks Us to Consider the Possibility of Resurrection
April 13, 2014 by
ABC’s mid-season replacement series Resurrection invites viewers to consider what would happen if their loved ones came back from the dead. The series premiere introduces us to Jacob, an eight-year-old boy who wakes up in a field in China after having died thirty-two years previously.