I suspect that all Christians would affirm that the broad theme of the Bible is “the Gospel.” I also suspect that, once we drill down into the details, things will fragment substantially. Even so, I suspect that most Christians will affirm, as I would have thirty years ago, that the Gospel is about sin and salvation, heaven and hell, who’s …
Death and the Possibility of New Life (Gun Violence Sabbath Sermon)
(This was my sermon from Sunday’s Gun Violence Sabbath. – Scott) Erbie Bowser was a school teacher who worked with special education students. He was an imposing figure at 6-foot 7-inches and 335 pounds, but was described as a “gentle giant” by those who knew him. He liked to have fun, entertaining crowds before Mavericks games with the a dance …
Reasoning from Above
This Sunday, Church in the Cliff is proud to participate in the Gun Violence Sabbath Weekend, in partnership with the Washington National Cathedral and Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence. In preparation, I’ve been looking at a lot of statistics. It’s upsetting. I remember the day of Sandy Hook. I was in California for Lisa’s company holiday party. We were …
The Great Reversal: Birds, Lilies, and Climate Anxiety (Luke 12.22-34)
This weekend, houses of worship around the country will participate in the annual “Preach-In” on climate change hosted by Interfaith Power and Light. IPL started as a “religious response to global warming” fifteen years ago when a coalition of Episcopal congregations in California joined together to purchase renewable energy. Since then, they’ve broadened their focus and partnered with a wide …
What I Meant to Say Was…
It was a great conversation on Sunday about the earth as neighbor. Thanks again to Genny Rowley for poking her head out of thesis-land to share with us. A couple of things came up that I wanted to follow up on. First, Genny mentioned a retreat for the Interfaith Dallas Environmental Action group. It will on Saturday, July 28th, at …
Undone by Love: The Earth (Program and Sermon)
Program Genny’s Introduction The journey of becoming an ecotheologian of sorts began for me through caring about people: I have a distinct memory from my first semester of coursework at Brite, where I was reading a text by Eleazar Fernandez where he asks the question: What does it mean to have hearts as large as the world? I was already …
Undone by Love: The Earth
It seems that as I think about this series more and more, I keep circling back to the question asked in the Luke 10 version of the greatest commandment story: “Who is my neighbor?” It’s a reasonable question. If we are to love our neighbor, surely we should know who that is. The answer, presented in the parable of the …