A Quiet Distinction

To my dear TFMC family,

To be clear: Donald Trump is not Jesus. JD Vance does not get to tell the Pope that his theology is wrong. And whatever Pete Hegseth is doing in Iran, it is neither a Holy Crusade nor divinely supported.  These claims of divine authority for political and military acts are exactly what our Anabaptist forebears warned against when they saw the state church merging with power...

When Astronauts Pray

To my dear TFMC family,

I’ve been watching with great interest the progress of the Artemis II mission. Space travel has captivated me for as long as I can remember. I grew up devouring National Geographic magazines, watching NOVA specials, and nurturing a deep curiosity about the worlds beyond our own....

Sacred Discomfort

To my dear TFMC family,

We are approaching the last week of Lent. Palm Sunday marks the final seven days—more or less—of Jesus' life on earth.  This last week of Lent also means that for those of us who've either fasted from something or tried to pick up something new, you only have one more week of your fast. Easter will be a true celebration.  In our home, we've been fasting from snacking before going to bed. I do miss my chips at night...

Lent's Confrontations

To my dear TFMC family,

One of the things that I appreciate about Lent is how deeply personal it is. Lent is a season of self-reflection. While for much of the year we reflect on our outer walk with Christ — that would be our actions and how they reflect Christ, for example, through peace and justice work and sharing the love of Christ with the world — for Lent, we are asked to attend to the inner spiritual life. This is the one that calls us to draw closer to God and Christ by looking at, reflecting on, and perhaps reconciling aspects of our faith lives which need attention...

Submission and Power

To my dear TFMC family,

I've been thoroughly enjoying the way we've been slowly working our way through the scriptures typically associated with Holy Week.

We've been given the opportunity to dwell in these stories that, for narrative sake, we often move through quickly as we tell Jesus' journey from the Last Supper to the Cross. We don't usually walk through these stories slowly, so I've really appreciated the chance to spend considerable time with them.

Growth in Dissonance

To my dear TFMC family,

I've been thinking about our Lent theme for the last week, and have been noticing how many places of dissonance I live in.  I’ve realized how much I love resolution, how much I love things all tidied up.  So any number of the started but unfinished projects at home drives me nuts.  I want to get them done.  When a problem arises at home or in the church, I sometimes have to restrain my impulse to just fix it.  Because, as I’ve learned, it’s in the solving, it’s in the fixing where the greatest growth occurs.

Reading Revelation

To my dear TFMC family,

Currently, the book “The Water Hole” by Graeme Base is very popular in our house.  It’s both a counting book and a search-and-find book.  The latter is the most interesting part.  Within each illustration on each page are additional animals to be found.  But they’re not obvious.  Sometimes it’s the negative space, or the crease of a leaf, or a carefully drawn branch that creates the shape of a creature...

Listening

To my dear TFMC family,

I’m heading out to Winnipeg this weekend for a pastor's conference.  The conference begins on Monday morning with a Preaching Masterclass.  I signed up for this hoping to hone my preaching skills.  Shortly after registering, I was contacted by the teacher leading this class, asking me if I would be willing to give some input.  My first reaction was, who am I to share in a preaching Masterclass?

Mattering

To my dear TFMC family,

Early in my Spiritual Care residency, I was assigned to the Ear, Nose, and Throat unit. Methodical by nature, I decided to start at one end of the hall and work my way down. My very first patient was gently sobbing. When I asked what was wrong, they shared that after weeks in the hospital, they felt invisible—as if no one was truly listening or cared that they were there. My heart broke...

More than Miracles

I had the pleasure of visiting Cana back in 2018 when I visited Palestine/Israel.  During our travels we stopped in Cana and visited the purported site of the great miracle, and in the church built on that location we were also able to see the famed vessels that were apparently used in the miracle.

Looking for good news

To my dear TFMC family,

It didn’t take all that long, to be honest, for the relaxed feelings that things are all going to be OK to vanish, as a new wave of bad news came flooding through my news feed.  You would think that bad news would take a break over the Christmas holidays, but it doesn’t...

Longing to Hope

To my dear TFMC family,

You would be forgiven for feeling a bit antsy this week.  Our Advent series has certainly taken its time to get to some familiar stories.  And that’s been by design.  Part of the season of Advent, for me at least, is trying to get us to place ourselves into the story.  Rather than have Advent be a ‘Countdown to Christmas’, I want us to be able to feel the joy and celebration, not because Christmas is here, but because God has done something astonishing.