By Hillary Asbury - The Harrowing of Hell is just one panel of a larger altarpiece which depicts several vignettes from the Passion of our Lord. In the painting, we see a cut out scene of a dark cave, and several of the faithful departed huddled within. Two men, perhaps Noah and Abraham, kneel before … Continue reading The Harrowing of Hell
By Joel A. Hess - Sell all your stuff and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Seriously! I’m not sure most people take Jesus’ response to the rich young man seriously. The guy asks a valid question. Bravo to this kid. What do I have to do to inherit eternal … Continue reading Sell all your stuff and give to the poor!
By Cindy Koch - In a time of war it makes perfect sense. You take the resources you have available and turn them into weapons against the enemy. Fighting for survival, everything hinges on the destruction of the other. Yes, it makes perfect sense to take the good gifts of God and craft your weapon … Continue reading Weaponize the Gifts
By Paul Koch - The story of the rich young man, as it is usually called, is an especially difficult text for us to deal with in the church. Not that it is a complex story that is hard to unpack, not that it is full of analogies that are distant from us and therefore … Continue reading Sacrifice
By Tim Winterstein - Troubled Water (2008, streaming on Amazon Prime) is really a brilliantly made film. You know the whole thing is going to collapse and fall apart between Thomas and Agnes, but you don't know when. That tension builds and builds, even when there is nothing tense happening in a given moment. And … Continue reading Guilt and Grief, and Relief
By Marc Engelhardt - Continuing the recaps from Christ in Common (the discipleship class that focuses on Foundation, Worldview, and Practice), we get to the section that many people in the class eagerly awaited: “How far is too far?” We didn’t get into this topic much until this point because I think part of the … Continue reading How Far is Too Far
By Paul Koch – I often joke around with some of my colleagues that the reason I default to the historic liturgy of the church along with an established lectionary system is that I’m lazy. I don’t want to try and figure out some sort of creative thematic series, so I just open up the … Continue reading Unrequested but Given
