In their new series, "The Unspoken God," pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve are exploring those times when we sense God's presence or action in the world beyond our words to express the experience. This time, the conversation takes us to the experience of "God moments" or "God sightings"--those times when you see or sense God at work in the world, and how recognize God in the midst of ordinary life. In a culture where religious voices (often self-appointed ones, too) point to disasters, earthquakes...
Oct 10, 2023•41 min
In a new series, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve explore ways we connect and communicate with God that go beyond words, whether spoken or written. In the Bible, sometimes God appears and speaks to people one-on-one, but then again, the biblical writers can talk about God's glory being revealed in creation, and God's presence being knowable in the stillness of silence. And of course, nobody in the Bible had a copy of the Bible itself (at least like we have personal copies today), and yet they wer...
Oct 03, 2023•21 min
In this final episode of their series on the Mandela Effect in the Bible (when we collectively mis-remember something), pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve take a look at figures who are definitely in the Bible, but maybe not the way we recall: the Magi. These are the star-watching travellers who find the Christ-child and present him with gifts before going home "by another way," but beyond that, there's not much the Bible actually says about these figures. We don't actually get a number, much less ...
Sep 26, 2023•28 min
Simon Peter is often considered to be the leader of Jesus' inner circle of disciples, and he's remembered as a pillar (even the "Rock!") of the early church. In some branches of Christianity, he is seen as an archetype of church leadership and a role model for clergy. Oh yeah--and the gospels tell us that he had a mother-in-law... which sure does sound like he's married! How does it change our picture of the disciples leaving their families to follow Jesus if you picture them with spouses, in-la...
Sep 19, 2023•30 min
In our latest episode looking at the "Mandela Effect" in the Bible (those times we were sure we remembered a character, event, or story one way, only to discover we had mis-remembered it together with a lot of other people), pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at the figure called "antichrist" in the Bible and in Christian history and theology. And while pop religion (like the not-very-biblical Left Behind series) often makes "the AntiChrist" to be a singular world figure, like a president or h...
Sep 12, 2023•32 min
In their ongoing series about characters we all assume we remember one way from the Bible that turn out to be VERY different (or even non-existent), pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve take a look at a complex figure in the Old and New Testaments: the adversary figure sometimes called "Satan," "Lucifer," or "the devil." And in the course of the conversation we'll unpack how three different ideas and figures have kind of been melded together in pop religion, while the Scriptural picture is a little m...
Sep 05, 2023•49 min
In their new series, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve explore characters we would have SWORN were in the Bible, but turn out to be fictions, mistaken recollections, or all-out mash-ups of other biblical characters into something new. That phenomenon of collectively misremembering and event or person is sometimes called the Mandela Effect, and it turns out we do it quite a bit with the Bible. That's especially true when we get our mental picture of Bible stories from pop culture, movies, and TV sh...
Aug 29, 2023•33 min
In a brand-new series for this fall, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve are exploring what is sometimes called "the Mandela effect"--those times when people collectively believe they remember things a certain way, only to discover they have all misremembered, forgotten, or embellished how things are. (The name comes from a classic example, where many people around the world believed they remembered South African president Nelson Mandela having already died years before his actual death.) Well, it t...
Aug 22, 2023•34 min
In this concluding episode to their series looking at well-loved hymns and the Scriptures underneath them, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve take a look at a relatively recent hymn from writer John Bell, entitled, "Will You Come And Follow Me" or sometimes know as "The Summons." They'll look at how the actual life of Jesus becomes a pattern and a model for our lives of faith: offering healing and help to neighbors, reaching across lines to include outcasts, risking being excluded or ridiculed beca...
Aug 15, 2023•22 min
As they continue looking at where some of our most beloved hymns get their rooting in Scripture, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at a classic of the Wesleyan and Methodist tradition, "And Can It Be." Written by prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley, this text weaves together themes and images from across the Scriptures as a way of expressing Charles' own "conversion" experience that moved him from a rote, going-through-the-motions sort of faith to something more like a living relationship wit...
Aug 08, 2023•34 min
As our series exploring the Scriptural roots of beloved hymns new and old continues, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve take a look at a newer hymn by contemporary hymn-writer and poet Ray Makeever, called "Death Be Never Last." It's a text born out of the personal experience of grief and loss that also points to the church's collective hope, not only of reunion with those who have gone before us, but of being connected to that communion of saints even now. And as we look at this hymn text, we'll a...
Aug 01, 2023•28 min
Over and over again in the Scriptures, we discover stories of God's enduring faithfulness and love even in the face of faithless people who flake out. It's God's repeated mercy on the wayward ancient Israelites. It's God's unconditional love for Abraham and Sarah, and even scheming Jacob, despite their failures and doubts. It's the generous father running out to meet the lost son while he's a long way off. It's Jesus restoring Simon Peter, even after the disciple had denied knowing Jesus on the ...
Jul 25, 2023•19 min
In their newest series for this summer, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve continue exploring hymns new and old for the ways that their poetry draws from the Scriptures, and how those hymns and songs of our faith help us to put in words what we sometimes struggle to express on our own. In this episode, we look at the modern classic, "Here I Am, Lord," (also known as "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky") and the way it weaves together the ancient stories of prophets being called by God, from Isaiah and Jere...
Jul 18, 2023•24 min
In this first episode of a new series this summer, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve invite you to take a closer listen at some well-known hymns, new and old, to look at where they come from in the Scriptures. Sometimes we learn the faith by singing it, rather than memorizing Bible verses or listening to sermons. So what happens in that interplay between the listening ear, the thinking brain, the pull of the emotions, and the stirrings of the spirit? Our first hymn to explore is that beloved Chris...
Jul 11, 2023•32 min
In this final episode of our series on Things the Bible DOESN'T Say, we're looking at something many were sure comes straight from the heart of the Bible--the notion of being able to point to a single moment in your life when you definitively "asked Jesus into your heart" or "accepted him as your personal Savior" by praying some form of a "sinner's prayer" to "get saved." And even though those may be popular ways of expressing the Christian faith, it turns out that literally NO ONE in the Bible ...
Jul 04, 2023•33 min
In times of stress and hardship, church folk are often heard to recite like a matnra, "God doesn't give us any more than we can handle." And as well-known a religious cliche as that may be, is that actually what the Bible says? In this week's episode of Crazy Faith Talk, we'll explore this idea, the original context of the verse from Corinthians that often gets (mis)remembered, and how we face those times when we really DO feel overwhelmed and in need of help beyond our own strength. Pastors Eri...
Jun 27, 2023•35 min
Plenty of people have heard (or caught themselves reciting) the little mantra "This too shall pass," and it's easy to think it's a quote from the Bible. The truth is a bit more complicated than that, and while a well-known fable connects that slogan with King Solomon, it's not actually contained as a phrase in the Scriptures. On the other hand, there is a chorus of voices in the Scriptures who would nod in agreement to the sentiment. From the skeptical philosopher's voice in the book of Qoheleth...
Jun 20, 2023•26 min
As we're discovering in this series, sometimes a phrase or a line that we have heard a thousand times, attributed to the Bible, doesn't actually come from the Bible, or loses some important background context. That's definitely the case when we hear the line, "Money is the root of all evil," which is really a sort of partially-remembered version of "The love of money is a root of all kinds of all kids of evil," from First Timothy. But beyond splitting hairs about precise wording, in this episode...
Jun 13, 2023•49 min
In this second episode of our series on things that many have assumed are in the Bible, but actually aren't, pastors Sarah, Erica, and Steve explore a theology of prayer and faith, and what will keep us from thinking God is a genie responding to our wishes or a celestial vending machine obligated to give us what we demand. Especially when faith is sometimes invoked to criticize people who have suffered terrible losses with the premise, "If you would have prayed more or harder, this wouldn't have...
Jun 06, 2023•24 min
In a new series starting this week, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve are going to take closer look at things that AREN'T in the Bible, but which a lot of us may have heard, assumed, or believed were there. Our first conversation starts with a sentiment that actually predates the Bible itself and goes back to ancient Greek philosophers thinking about the "gods" or some generic conception of the divine, but has been popularized in America by the likes of Benjamin Franklin and others: "God helps tho...
May 30, 2023•29 min
In the Scriptures, the Spirit of God is always in the midst of bringing things to life. From the Spirit brooding over the dark chaos at creation, to the breath of God bringing a lump of clay to life as a human being, to the vision of dry bones being called to life again by the Spirit-led prophet, to the gifts given to the disciples at Pentecost, the Bible often talks about the Spirit wherever people and creation are coming alive. In our lives, that includes things like the gifts, skills, and abi...
May 23, 2023•38 min
After having to find ways to stay connected without being in the same room together during the initial wave of the COVID pandemic in 2020, many churchgoers rediscovered their appreciation for being together in community. And if we've learned anything from that experience, hopefully it at least includes the call not to take for granted our opportunities to be together as God's people. There's a reason, after all, that the writer of Hebrews advises his readers "not to forsake assembling together"-...
May 16, 2023•32 min
To hear the opening story of creation in the Bible tell it, all of God's creation, and all its many forms of life, all fit together supporting one another and giving life to one another. Human beings, too, are placed in a role of being stewards who nurture life, who help foster its growth with beauty, and we find our own sense of purpose at least partially in how we care for the world God made and has entrusted to our stewardship. In a sense, both our ability to care for creation and our ability...
May 09, 2023•38 min
Sometimes it can feel like we have huge burdens of responsibility placed on us and we don't know how to let them go or catch our breath. When the things you usually enjoy or have a sense of accomplishment from seem fruitless, or when your bad days outnumber your good days at work or home, you may be moving beyond just tired to burning out. And that can be a great deal more difficult to recover from. So what can help renew us or bring us back to life--or offer some guardrails to help keep us from...
May 02, 2023•49 min
The storytelling in the book of Acts records the spread of the early Jesus-movement like it was an explosion--it can seem like the first generation of Christians had it all figured out and reached every corner of their world with lighting-fast speed and unmitigated success. But even just a closer, more honest, read of the New Testament reminds us that the early church had both times of rapid progress and also times of slow growth, and neither of those are "wrong." Sometimes we tell ourselves tha...
Apr 25, 2023•35 min
Easter celebrates the good news that Jesus' resurrection somehow gives life and hope for us all, but... what exactly do we mean by that? In a new series for this Eastertide, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve take a look at what we mean when we talk about Jesus giving us life. And starting with what might seem obvious, we start with the way the early Christian community made the startling claim that Jesus' resurrection means something for everyone, not just Jesus. Unlike Greek and Roman stories of ...
Apr 18, 2023•32 min
Throughout the season of Lent, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve have been looking at practices and disciplines that are often taken up in the season of Lent--things like new ways of prayer, fasting [whether from food or other things], and generosity. But once we leave behind the forty days of Lent, what are we supposed to do? How might some practices continue on as part of our long-term Christian life? What things do we leave behind, while carrying on what we have learned from them? And how do we...
Apr 11, 2023•27 min
Throughout the season of Lent, many Christians take on new practices or return to annual disciplines to refocus our faith and discipleship. Over the course of these weeks, pastors Sarah, Steve, and Erica have explored some of those traditional practices, ranging from fasting to prayer to almsgiving and other sorts of variations on them. But as Lent turns to Holy Week, a different kind of ancient practice comes to the center of our attention: we retell, and even rehearse, stories. The observances...
Apr 04, 2023•54 min
So far this Lent, we've looked at creative ways to fast, either from food or in uses of our time and technology, and we've looked at creative ways of praying. But how can we be "creative" in giving away money? What's the difference between giving to my local church for its regular maintenance and ministry work and charitably giving to others in need? And do I get to put strings or conditions on money or resources I donate to others? In this week's episode of Crazy Faith Talk, pastors Erica, Sara...
Mar 28, 2023•28 min
When you want to deepe your relationship with another person or reconnect with them after a season of growing apart, you make time to connect with them. What if we saw the church's season of Lent as a chance to do the same with God by deepening our prayer lives? And what if, instead of making that "one more thing to do" that we felt we have to check off our already-busy schedules, we looked for ways to pray that are more than scripted moments or laundry lists of requests and names, but much more...
Mar 21, 2023•30 min
