We live in a world of extremes. Just this week, scientists reminded us that the rapid intensification of Hurricane Michael was a result of the extreme global temperatures. As election day grows closer, we hear politicians on all sides use extreme rhetoric and fear-based tactics to win. Our culture’s idolatry of individualism has contributed to our country’s extreme polarization and a lack of empathy. Time and again, we see that extremism has taken over religion giving us ISIS, the Christian Crusades, and the Biblical records of genocide committed by Jewish people...

There is power in being called by name. Names carry a deep sense of knowing, of belonging. Names connect us. In today’s first reading, we hear God giving humanity the gift of naming the animals: “So out of the ground the Lord GOD formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them” (Genesis 2:19)..,

The reading from Mark picks up where we left off last Sunday. In last week’s reading, the disciples were fighting over who was the greatest. Then, Jesus took a child into his arms and reminded the disciples that welcoming the powerless, the dependent, and the vulnerable is what makes someone great. Today, Jesus still held that child in his arms and the conversation continued...

We’re back! …Well, yall are back. I’m here up in front with yall preaching for the first time, but you’re back! You’re back from summer vacations, from visiting family and friends. You’re back to school, back to the routine that Fall brings. I’m back in Chicago from my seminary internship to being a full-time student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. We’re back, here at church, all together again...

I watched the funeral service for John McCain at the National Episcopal cathedral yesterday. I was very touched by the poignancy of the liturgy –vergers and all (they were the persons who guided service participants to the appropriate places to read or speak). It was a fond farewell to a national leader and emphasized the civility that needs to be the character of our national disagreements...

Here we are, one final week in John’s gospel before going back to Mark. I am excited to switch back to Mark. I find that John’s gospel is more confusing and can easily be misunderstood. For example, a superficial reading of today’s gospel could easily support an argument that Christians are cannibals. But let’s be careful not to miss the forest for the trees. To better see the forest, it’s important for us to remember why John was written. That’s why you have an infographic in your bulletin from the good people over at The Bible Project.[1] In the top left, we can see the intention of the Gospel writer. The objective was to lead us to the belief that Jesus is the Messiah, and that by believing, we may have life in his name. So, all this talk about bread over the past few weeks was to help illume one of John’s main questions, namely “what does it mean to truly live?”...

When I started seminary four years ago, I learned a lot of new words: Eschatological. Pneumatology. Exegesis. Hermeneutics. (Not to mention all the Greek and Hebrew vocabulary I memorized.) It doesn’t really matter if you know what any of those words mean. There are days I’m not sure I even know what they mean...

Good morning, I bring you greetings from your fellow sisters, brothers and siblings in Christ, Of Body and Soul U Chicago Campus Ministry, at Augustana Lutheran Church, where we are committed to living out our faith, through concrete action, because who are we to tell someone, that they should just pound the pavement until they find a job, when we know that the system is corrupted, and instead, we give of ourselves not only through sacred worship but the sharing of sacred food, that should always come without price, and cost.

I always love when Biblical themes show up in pop music. This is the case with a song by 30 Seconds to Mars called “Walk on Water.” The refrain of the song is “Do you believe that you can walk on water? Do you believe that you can win this fight tonight?” Later on in the song the phrase “Do you believe” is repeated over and over again. The references to belief and in particular to Jesus are unmistakable. This song written in 2017 harkens back almost 2000 years to what Jesus does in our passage for today...

Here in the United States, we’re gearing up for the mid-term elections. As the election gets closer, I seem to notice more “smear” advertisements.  If you haven’t heard of smear, it is an effort to damage an individual or a group’s reputation. The purpose is to call into question one’s credibility with unverified rumors, distortions, half-truths, or lies. Yet, smear is not exclusive to elections. Even Western Christianity engaged in such abhorrent practices...