- Why is the Gospel not Preached? A Note to a Friend
Co-missioners, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Thus St. John’s version of the Great Commission. We heard it in church a few days ago as we always do on the Second Sunday of Easter. Those who listened closely caught Christ our risen Lord authorizing a lavish, exuberant use of the Gospel. ...
- How the Old Age Works (A Book Review)
Co-missioners, We celebrated Easter four days ago. For the next several weeks our thoughts in church will be focused squarely on the new age God launched through our Lord’s resurrection. Meanwhile we continue with the rest of the world to stumble through the old age of sin and death. Comes the question: what is God’s ...
- The Good News in the “Short Ending” of Mark’s Gospel
Co-missioners, Do the folks who run the church you attend follow the three-year lectionary when they plan their Easter services? If so, they’ll have a choice come Sunday of which Easter Gospel they’ll give you to hear, either St. John’s or St. Mark’s. The ones who love a preaching challenge will feed you St. Mark’s. ...
- Reading and Reflection for Holy Week
Co-missioners, We are all of three days away from the launch of Holy Week and its deluge of texts that constitute the heart of Christian proclamation. This Sunday we’ll hear St. Mark’s account of Jesus’ passion (Mk. 14-15). St. John’ s account will follow on Good Friday (Jn. 18-19). The day prior, Maundy Thursday, we’ll ...
- Addressing White Supremacy in the Church
Co-missioners, Here is one of several reasons for spending time with today’s offering: it will likely be the first time you’ve ever seen Luther’s “Heidelberg Disputation” marshalled as a resource for addressing the hot-button issue of white supremacy as a stubborn feature of American life, and of American church life in particular. Along the way ...
- Caught to be Catchers
Co-missioners, We’re in the middle of Lent today, yet we bring you a reflection on the Gospel for the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Steve Kuhl sent it our way toward the end of January when the pipeline was still choked with ruminations on the events of January 6. As it happens, Steve’s piece is the ...
- God-Fearing, God-Praising: A Crossings-style Devotion
Co-missioners, The item we send you this week is uncharacteristically brief. It’s also plain, as down-to-earth ordinary as ordinary gets. It doesn’t sound at all like “theology.” We think it’s worth your attention anyway. Our editor calls it the finest example he’s seen of Crossings theology encapsulated in a 250-word devotion. For more on this, ...
- Mission in the Gospel of Mark
Co-missioners, Our mission correspondent, Richard Gahl, returns this week with a quick missiocentric tour of the Gospel of Mark, the one that those of us who follow the Revised Common Lectionary are hearing from at church this year. Peace and Joy, The Crossings Community Mission in the Gospel of Mark by Richard Gahl In previous ...
- The Benefits of Christ for a Fractured America (Initial Thoughts)
Co-missioners, This is the fifth and final installment in a sequence of posts addressing the riot in Washington D.C. on January 6. An unintended sequence, we add. One post led to the other which led to the next, all with little or no planning along the way. We babbled, as it were—so much to be ...
- In the Aftermath of the Riot: Four “I” Words and a Word of Hope
Co-missioners, Come Saturday it will be a month since we saw the images streaming from Washington, D.C. of things we never imagined taking place in the United States of America. The event has unleashed a Noah’s flood of commentary and reflection, of which our last three posts have been the merest drop. Turns out we ...
