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Christmas... When Music and Worship Create Community and Family
Christmas...When Music and Worship Create Community and Family by Cherie Brooks
Choosing Life Instead: The Confessions of a Christ-Loving Consumer
I do consume, but I am not defined by that. I am not what I buy. I am a child of God alive in the flow of Love. Forget rampant consumerism; I choose another way.
Punk Rock and the Protestant Reformation?
What could the history of Punk Rock music bring to our understanding of the Protestant Reformation?
Our Children
Aren't you utterly amazed by children? At Covenant we want to do our part in supporting children and their families. We know that each of us is a gift from God to the world. While that may sound like a hallmark card, real love takes commitment and time and energy and hard work. Over the years, we have put in the work to get better and better at serving children and their families.
Honoring Our Connections
Is it possible that love is the answer, that all the world needs is love, that love will keep us together? We need a new vision of love, one that can happen in Congress, on the campaign trail, on city streets and highways.
The Question
How is your Lent going? This is a season of self-reflection, of taking your spiritual pulse, of telling the truth about your life.
When Crime Pays
Please know this: I’m not recommending that EVERYONE start watching the Netflix series, “Orange is the New Black,” especially if you are skittish about swearing and sex – both are abundant, and it’s graphic, too.
What's One More?
What can I say about all this that is not already being said? No one really wants to hear someone else say that Donald Trump’s words about “barring all Muslims” from this country are un-Christian and un-American.
Teach the Children Well
What should children learn in church? When should they learn? In what kind of settings? Are we talking content -- which bible stories, the Lord’s Prayer, what it means to be Presbyterian, etc. -- or are we talking life skills that will help them practice their faith -- prayer, meditation, service, stewardship,or reading the bible well.?
What Does Your Body Say About This?
Most of my days are spent reading, writing, listening, praying, going from home to office to hospital to coffee meeting to office to home, all the while either checking or working on the screen of some device. I live in my head. I use my eyes and ears and mouth. I think a lot.
Nobody Knows That I'm a Christian
[Note from Tracy: My daughter Tori and I talk about being a Christian in our society.......
White People 101 or "I Don't Want to be Racist"
We like to pretend that we really have no prejudice, that we never make snap judgments about anyone based on color.
What's Your Theme Song?
I know, it sounds like one of those Facebook quizzes they use to ferret out information about you for advertising purposes.
Where's Your Joy?
If I learned anything from my silent unplugged retreat a couple months ago, it’s that the world will go on and the bottom will not fall out if we stop racing and start pacing ourselves, interlacing our days with space for joy to make itself known.
Offline and Off-grid, Part 2
If I forget this, I can remind myself. There are do-overs anytime I want.
Offline and Off-grid, Part 1
No talking, no email, no texting,no phone for 8 days. Just listening for God in the nothingness.
How to Face the Day
When we numb ourselves to pain, we also -- without meaning to --numb ourselves to joy.
What Church is Really For
One of our young adults told me he hasn’t been to church in a really long time. He loves God and all, but just really doesn’t feel a need to come to church.
The Salvation of Forgiveness
We are commanded to forgive for our own benefit and for the health of the world.
Growing Me
"You can't make a bean plant grow by pulling on it." --Murray Bowen This little plant will grow to nurture others if it receives all that it needs....
When Church Happens
If what happens at church does not stir us to deepen and stretch our souls so that we are good for this world, it’s not much use.
Friends and Enemies
It's very hard for people here to get past the misconception that whatever happens in Europe or America is directly done by Christians and therefore supported by all Christians.
Grace 101
And when all is said and done, the score cards that tallied up our points for being good and demerits for being bad are not what it is all about. Our home has been in the very heart of God every second of our existence.
Don't Judge Me
It is true that judging others is especially bad because we tend to project our flaws on others and run around with logs in our own eyes, foolishly trying to remove toothpicks from the eyes of others. Judging others is destructive. We need to look to our own behavior and state of being, rather than tear down others.
Between
Considering that we are people who seem to leap from one thing to the next, from day to day, place to place, task to task, we actually spend most of our time in between.
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