The World's Okayest Pastor

With the election of 45 as the leader of the free world, there has been a resurgence of pro-life. With plans to reform the Affordable Care Act (ACA or more properly known as Obamacare) and the state of Iowa attempting to reform Medicaid, folks have been rallying to cut funding from healthcare providers that offer full women's health services, including abortions. Planned Parenthood has been the main target of these rallies, despite the fact that no federal or state funds can be used to pay for abortion services. But I digress from the point of this blog. There has been a call for folks to rally around being Pro-Life in the political sphere. What I find interesting and puzzling at the same time, is that the same people who insist that life starts at the moment of conception and all babies must be born, despite who they were created or if they're wanted also argue that we need to cut funding for social programs that include but are not limited too: Head Start, senior meal progr...

  In the church I currently serve, we celebrate communion on the first Sunday of the month. Everytime we celebrate communion I always conclude the meditation and the Words of Institution with an invitation to the talbe that includes the following: Come to the table because this is God's table. It's not the table of this congregation or this denomination, but God's. Because of that you all are welcome here.   Some of my church members think that I just like to repeat myself. But I say this for theological reasons. All too often churches like to put up boundries to participation in the full life of the church: membership requirements, approval by the pastor, counsel/boards, reciting certain creeds/belief statements, etc. While these are more formal reasons that churches bar people from full participation in all aspects of the church, there are informal ways of keeping people from full participation: unwelcoming, rumor mills, creative ways of making sure people are not includ...

Scripture readings are Acts 4:32-35 and  1 John 1: 1-2:2           So what do you hear or think about when we look at these scripture readings? Usually with the Acts reading, people think of Communism, not the China/North Korea version of it. But true, real communism, where everyone is taken care of and has what they need. Most folks don’t react very well with this concept today, especially in Western society because we've all earned what we have and if you don’t have what you need then you’re not trying hard enough. Let’s face it we've all had those thoughts running through our heads when we see someone asking for change or when you get in a line behind someone who’s using WIC to buy milk, juice, formula and other basic items and the cashier has no idea how to ring it up in the computer system so you have to wait a few minutes longer. Isn't it interesting how fast we jump to assume that these people have...

As a pastor, I get asked a lot of questions about a lot of things. Often times, folks ask me questions that I can't answer. It's not that I don't want to or that I don't have my personal opinions. It's that there are just some things that I can't give an answer too. It's those universal questions - why me, why did this happen, why now, why? I wish I could provide answers for folks because usually by the time someone comes to me asking these questions they're in a place of deep searching - a yearning for answers. Often times these questions are triggered by a major life event: divorce or break up of a significant relationship, death, major illness, violence, just to name a few. Please know that I ask these questions right along with you too. While I believe that God is in these situations, that doesn't mean I'm not hurt, upset, bothered, angered by these things. The latest funeral I performed was for a sweet member of my church. While they had hea...

I feel like a broken record when in church. I feel like my sermons, liturgy and prayers are basically the same thing over and over. I've tried journaling about it. I've tried writing out my sermon, I've tried using notes/outline. I've watched new movies and shows, went and met and talked with new people. I've prayed/meditated on this and I still feel like I'm repeating myself. So I'm going over past bulletins and prayers trying to see if I'm really repeating myself as much as I like I am. Themes that I've seen: love, unity, growth, inclusion, forgiveness, generosity, mission, welcome/welcoming, struggle. I've only been with this current congregation for about 3 full months now. No one has said anything to me and when asked no one says I'm repeating (makes me wonder who really is listening). I do get the standard "nice sermon pastor" so I don't think anyone is unhappy and I would have heard the rumor mill by now if anyone was (...

Today I had lunch with 2 of my fellow clergy people in town. A complaint that I heard was that people in my generational range don't just accept theological concepts anymore (virgin birth, Jesus as fully human and fully divine, heaven vs. hell, etc). These 2 folks are older than I am but we all struggle with congregations that are dying rather than growing. I believe that this comment has more to do with the frustration clergy feel about each week seeing that the numbers aren't going up and the pews look more empty than ever than with my actual generation's view on theology. However this is an important comment to pay attention too. My generation today no longer has to rely on the educated few to impart theological information to the mass. You have a question or want to know why we say or do something, you are just 1 Google search away from having multiple sources available to you to find an answer. If you read more than 1 of the Google search results you may even find tha...