Tap Room Tuesday Reflection: American Election Process
Tap Room Tuesday, October 8, 2024
The gang got together this week to discuss the American Election process. The opening little discussion was realizing how old we were as we shared our first experience voting for president.
Hospitals Not Courts
I think one of my favorite questions that Jesus is asked in the Gospels is, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? (Luke 5:30)” Every time I read it, it makes me smile.
This particular questions comes after Levi is called to follow Jesus. Levi was a tax collector and was likely considered a traitor to his people. The tax collectors of any age, it seems, are despised by everyone. Levi, after being invited to follow Jesus throws a party at his place. His community shows up and the religious elite were not impressed. How could Jesus eat and drink with those people?
Tap Room Tuesday Reflection: Qualified Immunity
Tap Room Tuesday, October 1, 2024
This past Tuesday evening the crew once again gathered to talk face to face. We had a quality discussion about qualified immunity. But, we began with learning about one another’s favorite childhood movie. Psycho and The Brave Little Toaster were the two big surprises for me.
Tap Room Tuesday Reflection: What Makes a Good Citizen?
Tap Room Tuesady 9/24/2024
The crew was gathered around some deep fried food and cold beers for a conversation about what makes a good citizen. The buzz about the Tigers was growing. The dad jokes from Major Tom flowed. It was a pretty great night!
He Lives Here
When I meet someone new one of the first questionst that I ask them is, “Where are you from?” Where someone is from tells you a lot about them. It provides a context for you to understand at least a little about how they might move through the world or the kinds of experiences that they may have.
One of the saddest things I’ve experienced was during a service trip to Eastern Kentucky. We were in Menifee County which is one of the poorest countries in the United States. The people there are kind and loving but they do not have much. I was talking with a mother and daughter. I had asked where they lived. Their faces fell, “Well the government just took our post office, they say where we live doesn’t exist anymore. Just like that where we’ve lived our whole lives just no longer exists. Cause, we can tell you that where they say we live, we sure as heck don’t.”
Tap Room Tuesday Reflection: What Qualifies Someone for Public Office
Tap Room Tuesday 9/17/24
Once again we gathered together to spend time talking about things that mattered in the Annex of the Tap Room in downtown Ypsilanti. It was a bit difficult for me to fully focus as I my attention was somewhat divided with the Tigers in the playoff hunt.
Party Time! Excellent!
I think one of my favorite stories about Jesus is the wedding at Cana in John 2. The whole thing is fantastic. All the little details and the feel that you get from the scene which allows you to fill the blank spots with your imagination.
Make This Place A Home
One of my favorite movies is Garden State starring Zach Braff. There is an amazing conversation that takes place between his character, Large and Natalie Portman’s character, Sam. They talk about what home is.
Large: You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in…isn’t really your home anymore. All of a sudden, even though you have some place where you put your shit…that idea of home is gone.
Sam: I still feel at home in my house.
Large: You’ll see one day when you move out. Just sorta happens one day, and it’s gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It’s like you feel homesick for a place that doesn’t even exist. Maybe it’s like this rite of passage, you know? You won’t ever have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself. You know, for… For your kids. For the family you start. It’s like a cycle or something. I don’t know. But I miss the idea of it, you know? Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.
Tap Room Tuesday Reflection: Civility
The crew gathered for the first time in over a month in the Tap Room Annex this past Tuesday for the return of Tap Room Tuesday. This little gathering was once called Doubt on Tap, but over the last ten years or so it has become something more than that. It’s become a community.
So, Tuesday nights we gather around the table and discuss things that matter.
Welcome to the Mess
As I look at the landscape of the American church today I see so much that leaves me sad. My social media feeds are flooded with people who are rightly criticizing the American church, it’s not hard to do. We have failed across the board in so many ways. Everywhere I look I can find examples of what not to do. If clicks and popularity in the online space is the primary factor for being online then it appears a Christian “thought leader” or “influencer” can go one of two ways. They can become political megaphones for one side or the other. The other way is to become a constant voice of critique of the Church or a non-stop defender of the Church regardless of the issue.
I confess that there was a moment when I began to be very attracted to simply critiquing everything. It’s so easy. There’s so much to critique.
I didn’t like what I was becoming.
Disentangling Faith From Party Politics
Over the last number of years in the United States of America Christianity and politics have become so intertwined that in some places they are almost indistinguishable. The rise of the “Moral Majority” and the “Religious Right” have turned Christians into a voting bloc to be used. Now, the political left is even getting in on the act. Christianity bought into a bill of goods that argued that if there was support for a certain political agenda then Christianity would have greater cultural influence.
Disentangling Faith from Tribalism
2016 was a watershed moment for the Evangelical movement in the United States of America. It was a moment that had been building for decades. It did not come out of nowhere. Kristin Kobes Du Mez outlines the rise of this moment in her excellent work Jesus and John Wayne, I would recommend reading it if you would like the historical background. The Evangelical movement had to make a decision about a singular question and that question was whether it would embrace a tribalistic identity or if it would choose an identity that transcends tribalism. It unequivocally chose the former.
I want to let you in on a little secret, the clamor for tribalism is nothing new.
Disentangling Faith from Corporatism
Introduction
For a long time I was enthralled with “leadership.” I read everything I could on leadership. It was one of those intellectual itches that needed to be scratched. During this season of my life I was leading a team of people with a large parachurch organization and I found much of it to be helpful.
Disentangling Faith from Consumerism
Introduction
It was the summer of 1998 and I was raising support at the beginning of my time on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was in the car on my way to a church gathering with a potential donor. He was going to be connecting me with a number of people from his church at this gathering. During our hour drive across Metro Detroit he shared with me his take on the future of the church in America. It went something like this…
Disentangling Faith
Introduction
Every December when it comes time to put up the Christmas decorations I have one job that is harder than the rest. This job makes me feel frustrated and a bit annoyed. The job of disentangling the outdoor lights is no easy task. It requires an engineering degree, patience, and a keen spatial sense. None of which I have. Yet, I persevere and press on toward the goal of disentangling the lights.
When I do, the results are magic! That moment when they come on and the house glows with the warm soft light from the twinkle lights just looks like Christmas. It makes me smile. But, to get to the beauty I had to go through the pain of disentangling.
When Religion Goes Bad
God-washed power pollutes everything it touches but there is hope
Over the last year I’ve read three books that have caused me significant pause.
The first was, A Church Called Tov by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer. The second was, Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez. The third was, The Flag and the Cross by Phillip Gorski and Samuel Perry.
How Do You Read the Bible?
What if meditation was the key to reading the Bible?
I was in high school and attending something called a Summer Institute at Eastern Michigan University. Rising high school seniors could attend the institute in a number of disciplines. I attended this two week experience for music. It was an amazing couple of weeks and I met some really fun people.
Silence Is Scary
Entering into silence can spiritually form us
There’s only a few sermons that I’ve heard that I remember. As I write that I want to make sure you understand what I’m not saying, I’m not saying that sermons are unimportant. I think they are very important. The sermons I remember are likely not sermons that someone else remembers. They are moments in time that God uses in the lives of people.
There was one sermon in particular that my friend, Doug, gave a number of years ago. He was talking about how noisy the world is and how quiet God’s voice can be. All during the message he had an iPod playing very quietly and then at the end he had us all get quiet and all of a sudden you could hear the music.
This shook me.
Prayer Doesn't Change God
Prayer is something so difficult for me to get my mind around. As I think about praying it raises so many, many questions.
If God is sovereign why pray? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? Why don’t I hear God when I pray? What value is there to praying? Why did that person get healed and that one didn’t? Why did that prayer have “results” and that one didn’t? Does prayer do anything?
And so many, many more.
I often think of prayer in the context of utility. Quite simply, “does it work?”
How Do You Read the Bible?
A simple practice to help you grow in your faith.
When you open the Bible do you feel intimidated? I know I do.
You read that right, the professional Christian with a graduate degree that included the study of both Hebrew and Greek is intimidated by the Bible.
How can that be?