Jesus himself prayed for his followers to be "one"--and yet, to walk down the streets of any town in your area, you'll find different church buildings and denominational groups, sometimes right next door to one another, all insisting they worship the same God and follow the same Lord Jesus, but divided along lines of tradition, confession, and denominational groupings. How did we get here? In this new series of Crazy Faith Talk, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve explore how Jesus' followers have b...
Aug 16, 2022•42 min
In our last episode of our "Summer Self-Care Playlist" series, we take a look at those places and times that recharge our souls when we weren't necessarily expecting it. Like the old John Lennon lyric says, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," after all. And while there's certainly a place for scheduled times of renewal or stress release in our lives, it's worth being honest that sometimes the personal retreat time doesn't turn out to be as refreshing as you'd hope...
Aug 09, 2022•25 min
In a culture where being "busy" for the sake of being busy is often lauded as a virtue, sometimes people can feel guilty about taking time for themselves, or we think that "self-care" is about going away on a retreat to a distant location, or getting an expensive massage, or splurging on something decadent for yourself. But sometimes caring for ourselves happens right in the thick of everyday life, and it is clear that caring for ourselves is a way of being fully available to then care for other...
Aug 02, 2022•26 min
There's a time in early childhood when we seem to make friends with nearly anybody who happenes to be around. But in adulthood, we have the busyness of jobs and families, and we have a harder time finding connections with other people outside of those parts of our lives. And yet, adult friendships, social circles, and affinity groups are as important in adulthood as they are when we're kids--so how do we do it? In this next round of conversations in their "Summer Self-Care Playlist" series, past...
Jul 26, 2022•31 min
Everybody finds different ways to recharge in life. Sometimes it's the old familiar tropes of a movie you've seen a hundred times, or a plotline you know you won't have to pay attention to for fear of missing something important. And sometimes it's just the opposite--it's entering a whole new world in a story that lets you imagine things you have never thought of, or that works a different part of your brain than your usual routines use. That's what Steve has to offer in this week's episode of "...
Jul 19, 2022•29 min
If you're looking for a little bit of escapism, join us for conversation around the microphone again today as pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve continue their "Summer Self-Care Playlist" series, each taking a turn in sharing some of the movies, books, and TV shows we are finding some comfort in when we need unwind or relax. This week, Erica shares some of her favorite go-to movies and series that she can watch over and over again, and we look at how there might be connections there for us as peopl...
Jul 12, 2022•37 min
On the days when life feels messy, chaotic, and unresolved, sometimes it can feel really good to watch or read story you know will have a happy ending. If you're in a season of needing to de-pressurize or relax, this new series from pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve is for you. Each week, we'll feature a different piece of pop-culture that's helping us recharge our batteries this summer, from movies to TV shows to books, and we invite you along for the conversation. In this first episode of our "S...
Jul 05, 2022•27 min
Over the course of the last several episodes, pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve have looked at ways things go wrong when Christianity gets wedded to the power structures of empire or culture of a particular nationality or ethnicity. And that track record is pretty bad—history is full of warnings about what happens when particular governments are equated with the kingdom of God. But does that mean there is no way to live out our faith in public ways, for the common good? In this concluding episode,...
Jun 28, 2022•35 min
Like an addiction (to power) that we just can't break ourselves from, institutional Christianity has a habit of calling back into the dangers of getting entangled with nationalism, tribalism, and warfare. So far in this series, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve have explored the warnings of both the biblical witness and the last two millennia of Christian history where things can go terribly wrong when Christianity is equated with a particular nation, ethnic group, or government. But now the bigge...
Jun 21, 2022•32 min
When the movement of Jesus and his followers first started, it quickly was seen as an enemy of the state, subverted the empire's claims of eternal dominance, and drew people from all nationalities, languages, social locations, and walks of life. But after several centuries, the Empire co-opted Christianity as its official state religion, turning the cross into a symbol for conquest, and forging a strange alliance between the Gospel of a crucified Savior of the world and the tools of state power....
Jun 14, 2022•35 min
Jesus is not a "Christian nationalist." Seriously--not even close. If that sounds surprising to you, then this conversation is one worth listening to. Despite what some people assume, the biblical writers--in both the Old and New Testaments--don't expect Christians to "take back" any country to make their governments enforce their faith. In fact, the overwhelming majority of voices in the Scriptures assume that God's people will NOT be in positions of political power, and Jesus himself doesn't a...
Jun 07, 2022•27 min
Coming right on the heels of the celebration of Memorial Day, plenty of Americans feel especially patriotic. And if patriotism is a love for one's country and a commitment to see it do well, care for its people, and grow beyond its shortcomings, that can just be another form of the broad commandment to "love your neighbor." But in this new series, pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve look at what happens when patriotism is exchanged for nationalism--the idea that one's own country can do no wrong, or...
May 31, 2022•37 min
In this final episode of their series on the way our callings grow and change over time, pastors Erica and Sarah ask colleague Steve about what it is like to have served in ministry in the same place and setting for nearly sixteen years--the joys, the sadnesses, the challenges, and the comforts. And as we look at one pastor's experience in ministry, it opens up an opportunity to see each of our own life stories and how God calls us, not necessarily to different geographic places over time, but t...
May 24, 2022•28 min
Sometimes the next step God leads you to take is do what you are already good at, but in a new location. And sometimes, you are led to do something new altogether, not just more of the same in a different location. And, to be sure, sometimes, it's a little of both. As they continue sharing their own call stories and reflections on how our callings from God change over time, pastors Erica and Steve listen in on their colleague Sarah sharing her own reflections on how her call, and her vocation to...
May 17, 2022•38 min
Hearing the stories of how people in ministry first listened or discerned for God's call can sound like the end of a journey--but really it's just the beginning. As our series on our calling stories continues, each of our pastoral colleagues around the table will take turns exploring how their own sense of calling has grown, changed, and transformed over time--whether that's moving to a new place, changing the kinds of work we do in the same place, or the ways life helps us grow as individuals a...
May 10, 2022•34 min
As they continue to share the stories of their own calling to ministry, pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve take a look at how other people in our lives have the power either to encourage us and open doors for us, or to detour and discourage us. In this episode, Sarah shares her own discernment of calling to ministry, as well as the influences of family members, mentors, and the welcome of a congregation that didn't expect a young stranger at their door one day. They'll also explore how it makes a d...
May 03, 2022•31 min
It's not that God calls SOME people, but NOT others to use their lives in ways that channel God's work in the world. Rather, it's a question of WHAT God is calling EACH of us to do with our lives. God's call sometimes looks like work in the institutional church, whether in pastoral ministry or other kinds of church vocations, but sometimes God's call leads people to classrooms, office buildings, farms, workshops, and almost anywhere else you can imagine. As we take a look this Eastertide at the ...
Apr 26, 2022•28 min
Each week, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve share conversation talking about OTHER things--theology, Bible, church life, pop culture, and their own takes on the Big Questions of life. But what about their own stories? This Eastertide, our co-hosts on Crazy Faith Talk will take turns sharing their own experiences of calling into ministry, how they have come to where they are now, and how their calls to ministry have changed over time and experience. Check out this new series here!
Apr 19, 2022•33 min
If your problem is a debt, then rescue looks like having your debt paid. If your problem is a sickness, though, what you need is healing. If your problem is a broken relationship, no amount of money or punishment will bring reconcilation. And if your problem is being pointed in the wrong direction, what you need most is to be turned around and pointed in the right way. In other words, our different pictures of what "sin" means will point to different understandings of what "salvation" is all abo...
Apr 12, 2022•32 min
In an era when the phrase, "thoughts and prayers" can feel like an empty gesture when not accompanied by action in line with those prayers, or when it's easy (and cheap) to use social media for mere virtue signalling rather than doing something, maybe it's obvious that "sin" includes the things we don't do that we should do. Classic theology has talked about "sins of omission"--what we leave undone--as well as the sins we "commit" in actions, words, and thoughts, too. But how do we navigate a wo...
Apr 05, 2022•38 min
It's really easy (and tempting) for "religious" voices to equate sickness with sin--as in, "If you're sick, you must have done something wrong." And what's difficult is that there are at least some Biblical passages that give that suggestion, not to mention a long strand of Christian theology that suggests all sickness, maladies, and death are the consequence of human sin, whether now or in our ancestral past. That presents its own set of problems, to be sure, but then again, in some ways sin re...
Mar 29, 2022•22 min
In their series for Lent, pastors Erica, Sarah and Steve continue to explore what we really mean when we talk about "sin." We've looked at some standard images the Bible uses, like sin as breaking God's law, or incurring debt with the divine, or missing the mark, but now we'll turn to another way of thinking of sin--in terms of relationship. In other words, sin isn't just the breaking of tedious rules, but is what happens when we break relationship with one another, or with God. Or maybe, we'll ...
Mar 22, 2022•24 min
If all we've ever heard is that our mistakes demand punishment, we'll be constantly afraid of a God who stands over us as judge. But as we're discovering this Lent in this new series from pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve, the Scriptures actually have a number of ways of talking about the problem we call "sin." And while sometimes that includes the language of breaking laws or incurring debts, the Bible also talks about sin as going astray, missing the mark, or going off course. And those kinds of...
Mar 15, 2022•25 min
In a new series for Lent 2022, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve unpack a BIG IDEA of Christian theology that we rarely think about deeply--what do we actually mean when we talk about "sin"? We probably have some shallow assumptions about what the idea of "sin" is all about, but chances are, we haven't looked more deeply at the surprising variety of understandings the Bible itself employs to talk about the "problem" of sin. Sometimes even realizing that there ARE different ways of understanding si...
Mar 08, 2022•31 min
Increasingly in church communities, people are familiar with Ash Wednesday as the beginning of the season of Lent for Christians, with its somber call to repentance and fasting, and the characteristic ashes marked on people's foreheads. And even more well-known are the festivities around the world on the day before known as Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, or--slightly less well-known--Shrove Tuesday. People have a hunch that these two days are connected somehow, but that backstory isn't alway...
Mar 01, 2022•22 min
Here's a palate-cleanser for your soul. Sure, there are some well-known and long-established traditional practices within Christian spirituality--serious and somber things like contemplative prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, daily devotions, or the daily office of praying the hours. But spirituality doesn't happen only in medieval monasteries or fixed rituals--sometimes we stumble into it by discovering habits that renew us even when we didn't realize God was getting through to us in the midst of the...
Feb 22, 2022•38 min
In a culture where you audition, interview, or apply for positions to try and prove your worth, and where you can be dismissed or voted off the show at a moment's notice if you don't make the cut, Jesus has a surprising way of gathering disciples to share in his work. He seeks them out, not from among the brightest and the best, but from among ordinary people who just had a bad day at work. In this final episode of our Epiphany series getting to know Jesus better, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve...
Feb 15, 2022•31 min
Like newly elected presidents give an inaugural address to lay out their priorities, vision, and the kind of administration they want to lead, the early chapters of each of the four Gospels in the New Testament give us public words from Jesus that lay out his vision and values. The thing is, Jesus' inaugural address reveals a "platform" that takes society's usual expectations and turns them upside-down. Jesus' message subverts the idea of kingdoms and empires, announces God's blessing on the mar...
Feb 08, 2022•43 min
Immediately after being baptized, having heard a voice from heaven claim him as God's own beloved Son, Jesus heads out into the middle of nowhere to face down the Tempter. And leading the way to drive him toward that confrontation with the devil is the very same Holy Spirit who had descended on him at his baptism. What a strange turn of events--but what does it mean, and how does it introduce us to Jesus? In our continuing series for Epiphanytide, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at how the ...
Feb 01, 2022•32 min
Every year, the church's pattern for keeping time sets aside a season--called Epiphanytide--for getting to know Jesus all over again. As we get new angles on introductions to Jesus, today we turn to a story told in some form by each of the Gospel writers, about Jesus' being baptized. Clearly, this is a story that helps introduce who Jesus is--after all, there is a literal booming voice from heaven claming Jesus as "my Son, the Beloved." But what does that mean for each of us today, and why does ...
Jan 25, 2022•36 min
