Dear Theophilus

We just passed the halfway point in Lent (March 15)! And if you are like me, you have failed at your lenten practices many times over. " God is light and in God there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5) / "God is love" (1 John 4:8)   It is at this point that I have to remind myself of a few things: (1) I do not practice and observe Lent to make God love me more and (2) I am a broken person who can't even live up to my own standards and practices let alone that of a infinitely holy God. God is light. To walk in light is to have all brokenness and rebelliousness exposed. The darkness of my soul cannot exist in the light. Dark cannot exist in light. I have two choices, to find a way to get rid of the darkness or hide from the light. Everyone has darkness and brokenness. Sometimes I want to downplay it. Sometimes I want to ignore it. Yet Lent is the perfect time, not only to work at exposing light into the dark corners, but coming to grips with our own brokenne...

As part of our class in Theology/Ethics of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, we have been participating in the sacraments. Sacraments are a peculiar things, often described as an outward sign of an invisible grace. John Wesley, having a unique and developed theology of what he called "means of grace" defined the sacraments this way, " By ‘means of grace’ I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” [i] Last night we participated in an ancient Christian practice that I had never considered a means of grace: washing each others feet.  Now I know some traditions do this. They observe Maundy-Thursday with a washing of the feet, but this is not usually apart of my tradition, nor would it normally be considered a sacrament or means of grace. But Jesus commands it with a triple portion in John 13: And ...

From the Lenten devotional material I am using: During my last winter as a resident I began to envision Lent as the process of washing my car after the effects of a long Chicago winter. For those who are unfamiliar with the effects of Midwest winter driving, envision your vehicle covered in layer upon layer of a nasty, salty, wintery film. With each new snow an additional covering of grit clings to your paint job, serving as a constant reminder of the treacheries of the season. It is an affliction that we bore with dutiful commitment to the city we loved, all the while hoping for warmer days. Now imagine with me what the first mild day in the beginning of March might feel to a winter-weary soul. The snow has temporarily melted and the first glimpses of spring are on their way. In a moment of mild insanity you decide to take a stab at washing your car — beginning to strip away the layers that have been accumulating over the winter months in hopes that something different is on the ...

I am using the devotional material put out by Seattle Pacific University... Some preliminary things I love about it: It is weekly instead of daily which means that I can miss a day or two and not feel behind. It also means that I can meditate on one section for a week instead of cramming more stuff into each day. Because it is not about new stuff, but about understanding the old stuff in a new/fresh way. I know the person who wrote it and I would follow her spiritually into the depths and back: Celeste Cranston. I am in a small group with her and she is in-tune with it, if you know what I mean. She is working with the material, with the scholarship, and has an M.Div of her own. This is good stuff. The material is mostly based off of Dr. Laura Sweat's scholarship in Mark. Dr. Sweat is a Markan scholar and faculty at SPU. I would put her up against anyone when it comes to the Mark material.  So, I will be reading and blogging along to this material. If you want to read ...

Tomorrow begins the season of Lent for Christians all over the world. In case you are wondering, Lent is a 40 day period of waiting and preparation before Easter. 40 has great symbolic meaning in scripture. The flood of the Noah and the ark story was 40 days. The Israelites wandered the desert for two 40 years periods. Jesus fasted 40 days in before his public ministry. Jesus hung out with his disciples for 40 days after Easter morning, preparing them for ministry and the reception of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. 40 is almost always connected to preparation and purification. Lent is just that. It is the emptying of self. It is preparing oneself to receive the good news of Easter, to experience it afresh, uncluttered from opulence, comfort, worldliness, and mixed-up priorities. This church season is usually practiced by fasting (or giving up) something that will help one remain focused and move towards the above goals. Every year I am tempted to try and kill two birds with on...