How do we engage in soul care that actually works? How do we take what is in our heart, mind, personality, and history and form it in a way that fosters wholeness and vitality? While recently interviewing my dear friend, Lauren White, the topic of spiritual disciplines came up. My visceral response to those two…
Productivity: A measure of the efficiency of a person, machine, factory, system, etc., in converting inputs into useful outputs. Oxford Dictionary It all sounds rather mechanical, right. Something that puts us in the category of human doings rather than human beings. It leads to days measured by to-do lists and calendars. Or one measured entirely…
I preached the sermon, Developing Love on Sunday, May 17, 2020. It is a bit odd for someone living on the other side of the pulpit to step back in, but the pastor at my church in Denver asked after hearing me speak at The Gospel of Relentless Love Conference. Using the image of a…
Is there a better question to ask about the man born blind? The disciples saw the man and from their world of transcendent-enchantment asked, “Who sinned?” The assumption is that it must be the man or his parents. In our world of immanent-disenchantment we ask, “Who’s to blame?” We use frameworks like meritocracy and victimhood…
Like the meritocracy, victimhood is another way we seek to answer the question, “Who sinned?” The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you…
Last time we left off with the claim that an embrace of meritocracy is one of two primary ways we 21st Century Americans like to answer the question, “Who sinned?“ It is a question that is really about blame. We need to know who is at fault? While in an ancient world built on transcendent…
The question, “Who sinned?” launches us into a multi-week exploration of the local context of John 10:10 and Jesus’ offer of an abundant life. Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? John 9:2, NRSV
If I could pass on one word of advice to everyone who picks up the Bible, it would be, “Remember, context is king.” Another way of saying it would be, “Don’t ignore the forest for the sake of one tree … or, quite possibly, a single leaf.”
“Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.” I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen those words pop up on Facebook over the past few years. Typically it comes as a dismissive defense against any serious attempt to wrestle with the entanglement of faith and politics. It compartmentalizes the two,…
Abundance Reconstructed is a topical curated monthly email from Joe Burnham. It explores faith in the midst of Christian deconstruction and reconstuction. The newsletter includes original writing from Joe blended with recommended resources like books, podcasts, and articles. Read this post if you want to learn more about Joe’s experiences with Christian deconstruction and reconstruction.
What comes to mind when you think about Christmas traditions as child, what comes to mind? What are the memories like and how do the shape the way you view Christmas today? My friend Daniel Powell is the host of The Grounded Presence podcast, a place to explore “authentic identity, deeper community, and spiritual evolution.” In…