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Advent devotions — Year A (2019)

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Purple-church Advent: Devotions for the congregation Are you looking for theologically sound, inspiring and affordable Advent devotions for the congregation? The Presbyterian Outlook is once again offering accessible and inspiring daily devotions for Advent. This year the focus is on the purple of Advent for the church. Buy 4 weeks of Advent devotions and download now: $19.99 About these devotions: In recent years the color purple has been used as a short-hand way to describe a place or institution that is a mix of people with left- and right-leaning politics. The phrase “purple church” denotes caution: Be careful in preaching and teaching, in small group discussions and fellowship hour conversation because we are a “purple church.” Opinions vary and tensions are high, so tread lightly. But what if instead we in the church stopped adopting the language of politics and instead intentionally used the language of our faith? What if, for us, purple equaled preparation, praise, … [Read more...]

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What’s right about Presbyterian Youth Triennium?

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During #PYT2019, art was right! Everywhere I looked, I saw places where youth and adults could draw, paint, decorate and write what was on their heart. Every day, new prompts appeared in the Stewart Center at Purdue University asking, “What makes your heart sing?” or inviting youth to complete the sentence “Jesus sought me when …” On Memorial Mall, chalk art blossomed, keeping pace with the coneflowers outside our dorm. For a conference with the theme “Here’s My Heart” (taken from the venerable hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”), it was a perfect way for participants to pray to God and share the creative energy of the divine. This invitation to creativity demonstrated how “Triennium was an amazing way to grow in faith with my delegation and become closer with my youth group,” according to Sarah Walker, a youth from the Central Florida Presbytery delegation. — Jody Mask, Central Florida Presbytery delegation leader to Presbyterian Youth Triennium Read more of Jody’s … [Read more...]

Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive:  And the Truth That Sets Us Free

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Jonathan P. Walton IVP Books, 224 pages Reviewed by Jeff Charis-Carlson Readers can take encouragement just from skimming through the blurbs accompanying Jonathan Walton’s new book, “Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive.” It’s inspiring to know so many American Christians are already engaged in the import work of decoupling the core of their faith from the rhetoric and iconography of their national identity. And Walton’s attempt to speak truth to power lives up to such genre-busting descriptors as “prophetically pugilistic.” In every chapter, he challenges his readers to pause and consider the passages where they disagree with him — sometimes to the point of wanting to walk away from the book. “To claim that the white American church does not embody and enforce the ethnic, social, and political division and call it ‘Christian’ is to live in denial,” Walton writes. “And to stop reading here because you disagree is cowardice.” Walton, however, doesn’t want any of his … [Read more...]

You’ve been left behind

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As a teenager I lived in constant fear of missing the rapture and being left behind. Wake up late on the weekend to find no one home but me? Panic. A little too early for youth group on Wednesday night and nobody was there to play foosball with me? Panic. Over at friend’s house and they took too long coming back from the bathroom? Panic. Even today – long after I learned I have nothing to worry about because not only is the idea of the rapture unbiblical, but the idea that God magically whisks the people of God away to safety instead of walking with them through tribulation is actually anti-biblical – I still have brief moments of panic when I find myself unexpectedly alone. But while the rapture might not be a biblical concept, the idea of being left behind is — just not in the way we’ve been taught to understand that phrase. We have been left behind — not from the rapture, but with a calling from Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit to see that calling through. When Jesus … [Read more...]

Our need for superheroes

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In 1974, a group of farmers were digging a well in China when they found some unusual pottery. Further excavation discovered over 8,000 life-size figures of soldiers along with chariots, weapons and horses from the third century B.C. The discovery became known as the Terracotta Army. It was a significant finding because the artifacts allowed researchers to understand the culture and political systems of an era that no longer exists. It was an archaeologist’s dream to gain such detailed insight into an entire civilization through the objects they left behind. Who were they? Why did they make this? What need did it satisfy for its creators? The things we produce and consume say something about us. Archeologists of the future will someday study the material things we leave behind as relics and draw conclusions about our society. What will they infer about us? Like all artifacts, comic book superheroes are cultural products that satisfy a cultural need. They reveal something about the … [Read more...]

What  can church music teach us about grace?

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Guest commentary by Amy Cerniglia This summer at the Presbyterian Association of Musician’s Music and Worship Conference at Montreat, I enjoyed participating in the intergenerational drum classes, which required no auditions or prior experience. As a music director, it was one of many great ideas from the conference to bring home for my church. But for one boy with Down syndrome, this was his first chance to participate in leading music during worship. As he shared his story, an elderly woman agreed, tears in her eyes. It saddened me to hear he and others seem to lack opportunities in their home churches. Surely we can create accessible spaces for people of all ages and abilities. Many adults at my church can still recall hearing for the first time, as children, that they were not allowed to join in a school choir or other opportunity because they “could not sing” or “had no rhythm.” In reality, only a very small percentage of the population lacks the ability match pitch, … [Read more...]

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