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Fellowship of Saints and Sinners

“There are no ‘heroes’,” an old theology prof used to say. I disagree.  There are no superheroes, yes, despite what Nietsche might claim- but heroes?  They’re around. Some friends and I were discussing the movie, The Hobbit.  One friend said he doesn’t go for flicks in which the hero is small.  Heroes in his book need…

I’ve been stalling on the subject of obedience: just the term makes me a bit squeamish, and I’m not sure where this discomfort comes from. Maybe my squeamishness is the result of having grown up singing in church one too many rounds of that cheesy, old hymn, Trust and Obey; maybe it is the outgrowth of…

The brainstorming for 2013 has begun.  Will you help, pretty please? I’m giving thought to possible blog series here at this intersection between God and life, and greatly appreciate your feedback.  For your input:  what from the below list most interests you?; what isn’t here that you’d like to see? what sort of series would…

For all of us who tire of glib superficiality in many of our churches, and by way of keeping it real here at this intersection between life and God, this morning’s testimony to my love of 80’s music comes from the band, The Stranglers, singing “Skindeep.”  The video is worth watching just for the haircuts…

I’ve coined “the Dover Principle” by way of our recent visit to my in-laws in Boston. The Dover Principle states this: a three-day limit to visits with extended family is good for everybody.  Visits exceeding three days overstay the welcome and invite unnecessary drama.  (Besides, don’t good things happen on Day 3? You know, “third…

  My favorite poem from the recent series by Andrew Sullivan (The Dish), Poems from the Year, contains refrains from the Old Testament, especially Ecclesiastes.  Even today’s reading from Nehemiah 8, where “the joy of the Lord is my strength,” sounds more poignantly relevant when considered next to the poetic wisdom of Gilbert: “A Brief…

How do you describe a smell? Surely, Hemingway or Faulkner or another of the real literary greats could help here. For the time being, imagine oregano on steroids. That’s what happened when I emerged from Whole Foods the other day with “nature’s strongest known antibiotic.” The directions on the bottle call for “1-4 drops daily…

It has been a very full year here at this intersection between God and life, for anyone converted, unconverted or under conversion- and, I might add, the very first full year here!  Here are the highlights, looking back: In January: we finished up our Weird Jesus Sayings series with Jesus’ really weird curse of the fig…

Every year the president of a large, nationwide trucking company makes a visit to every affiliate in cities across America. It’s always a couple weeks before Christmas. One of the men who works in the warehouse told me.  He’s always smiling, but this day he exclaimed, “You need to meet our president! What I love…

My procrastination has finally lost the battle: this morning I’m sorting through a couple hundred mailing addresses as part of an approximately biannual routine- the Dover family Christmas card. The Dover family Christmas card is always fun to write and much less fun to send out. This year, if Elaine of Seinfeld’s accidental show of…
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