I spent the morning of my 27th birthday listening to Rachel Held Evans lead two conference sessions–the first on Gender Equality and the Church, the second on Abuse and the Church. Three hours later, as we walked out the door, my mom said, “We should do something fun for your birthday!”
Looking at her in confusion, I said, “That was fun. I can’t think of any other way I would rather spend my birthday.” Continue reading
I’ve grown to really like prayers written by other people. I have written before about my love for St. Francis’s famous prayer (made into song by Sarah McLachlan). The thing is, when I pray my own prayers, I usually do one of two things: 1) ramble, or 2) repeat “Help me!” or “Thank you!” Anne Lamott’s book about prayer, Help, Thanks, Wow helped me see that this is not actually a bad thing…still, it’s nice praying thoughts that have been lovingly and carefully shaped by someone else.
I have a pocket edition of the Book of Common Prayer, and in it lies a prayer that consistently gives me peace and courage. It’s titled “Major Life Transition,” so obviously it is especially relevant right now. May it encourage you as it has encouraged me. Continue reading
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is 1 Kings 19. In general, I love when the Bible surprises me, especially when it reveals someone I’ve been taught to think of as a hero of faith (in this case, the prophet Elijah) as a self-absorbed crybaby. Even better, 1 Kings 19 reveals that God responds to Elijah’s whining with compassion and kindness. This is exactly the sort of message I so often need to hear.
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” (1 Kings 19:1-2)
This story takes place right after the showdown on Mount Carmel. You might remember the Sunday School story where Elijah goes toe to toe with the prophets of Baal to see whose God is stronger. The prophets of Baal shout, dance, and cut themselves in an attempt to get Baal to burn the sacrifice they offer. But Elijah, in an awesome display of confidence, dowses his sacrifice in water, mocks Baal, and watches God send fire from heaven to claim an easy victory. Solid moment for Elijah. You would think he would be riding high on faith after such a display of God’s power. Continue reading
I’m a bit obsessed with St. Francis of Assisi, and it all started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That’s normal, right?
In the season six finale (which is SO GREAT and I will definitely write about at some point), Sarah McLachlan sings, “The Prayer of St. Francis.” I thought it was beautiful, and I eventually realized it originated, not with a show about vampire slayers, but with a 13th century monk. Continue reading
Dr. Kreider is my favorite professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. I try to take his classes as often as possible, even when they are twice a week at 7:45 a.m. As a night owl, this is the strongest recommendation I can possibly make. When he published God With Us in late 2014, I jumped at the chance to have his wisdom in portable book form.
What makes Kreider’s theology so appealing is the way he condenses controversies and debates to their simplest common denominator. His book continues this practice by covering the entirety of the Bible through the lens of God’s humble decisions to give up his position of authority in order to come to us and relate to us on our level. Although this humility is best seen in the person of Jesus, Kreider convincingly argues that the triune God has acted in this way from the beginning of creation to its re-creation. Continue reading
One of the worst things about being single are the comments that come your way from well-meaning friends, relatives, and acquaintances. My favorite (by which I mean my least favorite) is the question, “Why are you single?” Sometimes I am tempted to pull a Bridget Jones and pretend to have a skin malady of hidden green scales. One time I sarcastically responded, “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me why you think I’m single?” I was met with uncomfortable silence. There is simply no good answer. If there were a specific obstacle keeping me single, I would do my best to remove it. And anyway, that question just highlights the fact that I am alone, with an unpleasant undertone of “and that’s not okay.”
Knowing my abhorrence of this trend, imagine my delight when in chapter seven of The Meaning of Marriage, Tim Keller lists four common Christian explanations of singleness….and a sassy retort. Continue reading
I cannot watch this scene from The Two Towers without crying. It has become my inspiration and motivation as I prepare for Greece. Saying that, I immediately feel dumb, because who am I to compare my decision with the epic quest of Frodo and Sam? But perhaps my feelings of insignificance are exactly what qualify me as a hobbit. Continue reading
On February 5, 2008, an EF-4 tornado blew straight through Union University. I was on campus that night, and the experience remains the one time in my life that I legitimately feared I was about to die. Thirteen students were trapped in the rubble, and fifty-one were taken to the hospital. The scope of the devastation was enormous, but God, for whatever reason, kept us safe. Every February 5th I try to take time to acknowledge what happened so that I remember both the brevity of life and the protection of God. The words that follow (with a few grammatical corrections) are what I wrote in a blog post a couple days after the tornado hit.
Around 6:30 the tornado sirens started going off, but we didn’t pay any attention. That happens often, living in Tennessee, and I was planning on starting my homework while the roomies watched American Idol. Brittany Cox ran over to our room through the rain and sirens, and we were just sitting around chilling. Then Whitney’s phone rang, and she all of a sudden said, “We’re leaving, come on!” Continue reading
Growing up in conservative Christianity, I attended an annual conference where I learned to share my faith so that strangers might convert and find salvation in Jesus Christ in less than two minutes. I’ve changed the way I share my faith, but I don’t want to ignore the fact that some good things came from this conference.
Most importantly, condensing my faith into a two-minute speech did help me conceptualize the basic framework of Christianity by highlighting the overarching story revealed in the Bible. The weekend retreats also provided an opportunity for me to combine faith and fun as my friends and I goofed off and worshiped simultaneously. And because God is good, I know he used our efforts to bring hope and even salvation to some people’s lives.
The details of the conference were solid. The big picture, however, is where I now disagree. I was taught an evangelism tactic that was based in fear and presented as a formula. Today, I try to share my faith out of love in the midst of relationships. Continue reading
When I was in seventh grade, my older brother invited me to see The Fellowship of the Ring on opening night with a group of his friends. They invited one other younger sibling in an attempt to set us up. I did fall in love that night, but not with the other seventh grader. My heart was 100% stolen by the beauty and power of The Lord of the Rings. Continue reading
It Is Trish 