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Voices of Faith

Will work for food

I was hiking in a hard rain one August afternoon with our youth backpacking contingent. We were raising money for ELCA World Hunger. Everything was soaked; you could wring out…
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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Looking forward to another land

Lectionary blog for Aug 11, 2019 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40 I’m writing this on the evening of July 4….
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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Growing up as God’s children

Lectionary blog for Aug. 4, 2019 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 As I drove my family around one morning running errands, my…
A boundary-breaking God
Spiritual Resources

A boundary-breaking God

Debbie Blue’s new book Consider the Women: A Provocative Guide to Three Matriarchs of the Bible (Eerdmans) offers readers an expansive invitation to think more deeply about the lives of…
Study guide: “God is present every day”
Spiritual Resources

Study guide: “God is present every day”

Mystics, saints and other holy people throughout the ages have told us the plain truth: God is everywhere all the time. As we grow in faith and deeper relationship with…
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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Restoration of God’s favor

Lectionary blog for July 28, 2019 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6-15; Luke 11:1-13 When I taught at college ministries years ago, I liked to talk…
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Voices of Faith

My faith journey: How I became a Lutheran

I went to college hoping to lose my faith. Two months before I arrived at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., my parents had sent me to a camp…
<i>Toy Story</i> and letting go of childish things
Voices of Faith

Toy Story and letting go of childish things

For a toy made in the 1950s, Sheriff Woody is pretty immature. In the almost 25 years we’ve known the central character of the animated Toy Story series, we’ve seen…
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Voices of Faith

Ministry without limits

A congregation I once served opened their building monthly for a Narcotics Anonymous group. The relationship was conflict-free until a parishioner discovered a pill on the fellowship hall floor and…
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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Not being distracted

Lectionary blog for July 21, 2019 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Amos 8:1-12; Psalm 52; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42 For me, this is a difficult blog to write. I’m the prime…
How Rachel Held Evans influenced my faith
Voices of Faith

How Rachel Held Evans influenced my faith

“When you stop trying to force the Bible to be something it’s not—static, perspicacious, certain, absolute—then you’re free to revel in what it is: living, breathing, confounding, surprising and, yes,…