Fun Facts About Martin Luther

Today is Reformation Day, commemorating the day in 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenburg. I thought to mark the occasion I would do a blog the man who started it all, Martin Luther. Instead of writing a long-winded blog about how important he was and his legacy within Protestant Christian, I though instead I would share some information on Luther most people might not know. Luther: The good, the bad, and the ugly!

Misconceptions I Run Into as a Christian Ally

As a Christian who supports the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the church I often find myself on the defensive, which is to be expected. I’ve been called everything from a heretic to an apostate often at the same time (not sure how’s it’s possible to be both). But what really frustrates me are the misconceptions people have about me and my larger beliefs because of this one issue. There seems to be a lot of misconceptions on what I am about as a Christian ally, so I’m here to clear up some things.

Dinosaurs 22 Years Later

In honor of the release of the new Jurassic World movie (over twenty years after the release of the original Jurassic Park film) I thought to write a blog on dinosaurs. I was after all a dinosaur nut as a kid, and I mean nut. Even before Jurassic Park came out I was obsessed with the strange prehistoric creatures. Just ask my mother how many dinosaur toys and books I owed. When I saw Jurassic Park for the first time I was spell-bound seeing Brachiosaurus walking across the park for the first time with that John Williams score in the background that reminds me even 22 years later that there is still plenty of mystery in the world. Over the past two decades though so much of what we know and we thought we knew about dinosaurs has changed. Here’s some big leaps I might have never imagined when I was a kid playing with model T-Rexes and Triceratops.

Memories of Growing Up at Trinity UMC

The following is the contents of an article I wrote for my former church’s newsletter this month as it prepares to celebrate it’s centennial.

I was baptized by Rev. Dave Hillard on May 11, 1986 (Mother’s Day) at Trinity. Can’t say I remember the experience being less than a year old at the time, but having witnessed many baptisms in The United Methodist Church since then I know that among other things the congregation affirmed the following pledge:

Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Change the Name if You Must, But Keep the Method

Recently there has been a great deal of Methodist blog activity around the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and a number of prominent voices calling for its demise. As pleased as I was to see everyone taking a break from debating the pros and cons of schism, I can’t say scrapping one of the most note-worthy ideas to come out of Wesleyan theology since the 1968 merger is much of an improvement.

Good News to the Poor

I struggled for hours trying to write a reflection on this past week’s Advent reading (Isaiah 61:1-4). Try as I might the right words wouldn’t come. Then I realized that it didn’t matter what I wrote. Isaiah’s words need no commentary or reflection. These verses speak best for themselves, but only if we believe they still speak to us today. As I read them to myself this week, this is what they seemed to be saying to me.

Advent Reflection: Who Invited John?

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Advent Reflection I: The Right Kind of Hope

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,

so that the mountains would quake at your presence—

as when fire kindles brushwood

and the fire causes water to boil—

to make your name known to your adversaries,

On Scottish Independence

Taking a break from theology with some thoughts on a recent issue in the news that’s got me intrigued. Apparently the most recent referendum to make Scotland fully independent has gained enough support in the polls that it might pass this time and thus remove one of the key members in the United Kingdom. Obviously, even if the referendum passes, there will still need many questions left to figure out:

Lessons Learned from Early Church History

Over the past few months my Sunday School class has been studying early church history from Acts all the way to the Dark Ages. Talking about our history in an informal environment like this brought to light some good points to consider when we look at our past as Christians:

1. Nothing was always set in stone. There are so many doctrines or beliefs that are just givens in our churches today. Sure we might discuss them and question some of them from time to time, but on the whole we just accept these things like Jesus’ divinity, the Trinity, etc. But as hard as it is to imagine there was a time when these ideas were not universally or popularly accepted by all Christians. Many of these ideas were hotly contested at point. Christianity could have very easily been a very different religion. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t believe these doctrines. It just means we shouldn’t take for granted how we acquired them.