I think of my friend Steve Pitts (Minnetonka, MN) as the Platonic ideal of a Covenant pastor: irenic, thoughtful, compassionate, and personally devoted to Jesus Christ and the whole mission of the church. So I was very happy that he was willing not only to write for our Lenten devotional, but to take a reflection … More Entering Into Darkness: A Spiritual Discipline
We’ve reached Maundy Thursday in our Pietist Option devotional. Thanks to Kurt Frederickson (Simi Valley, CA) of Fuller Seminary for sharing today’s reflection. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you … More Stooping Before Each Other
For this Wednesday of Holy Week, a lovely meditation on hope by Krista Brumberg Stevens (Andover, MA). Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before … More Reclaiming Hope
Our Holy Tuesday reflection comes from John Bangs (Carnation, WA), director of Fuller Seminary’s Northwest campus. The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified… For God’s foolishness is wiser … More The Foolishness and the Power
Our devotional reflection for Holy Monday comes from spiritual director and Covenant pastor Jane Hutchins-Peterson (Champlin, Minnesota). He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth… (Isa 42:4a) It’s the day after Jesus got off the donkey and the days that would change us forever loom ahead. The … More Compassion, Mercy, and Justice
I’m going to ease back into blogging by spending Holy Week sharing the final set of reflections in our Pietist Option Lenten devotional, Come Back to Jesus. For this Palm and Passion Sunday, Bethel Seminary student Steve Pavlicek (Plymouth, Minnesota) considers Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount … More On a Horse with No Name
Let me suspend my Lenten hiatus just long enough to share the text of the sermon I delivered yesterday at Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton, Minnesota. It was the fourth in a “Path to Renewal” series inspired by The Pietist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity, with my co-author — and Salem’s senior pastor … More The Path to Renewal: Be a Priest! (John 2:13-22)
In my column for the Fall/Winter 2017 issue of the journal Pietisten, I took a shot at doing something I’ve been most leery to do. Here’s how the column starts: “You need an elevator speech.” So said a friend when I announced on Facebook the publication of our book on Pietism. What she meant is that … More “Do You Believe in the Resurrection?”: My Elevator Speech for The Pietist Option
If you live in the Twin Cities — or want to capitalize on some post-Super Bowl deals and pay us a visit next weekend — please consider attending the Winter Seminar at Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis on February 9-11. I’ll be preaching at both services that Sunday, with the bulk of the seminar itself … More Always Reforming: Next Weekend’s Seminar on The Pietist Option
I’m very happy to announce that Come Back to Jesus, our free Lenten devotional, is now available for download! This lower-resolution version (1 MB) should work well for tablets and smaller devices; if you’d like to print a hard copy, you can download a higher-res option (31 MB) from Scribd. My Pietist Option co-author Mark Pattie and I each contributed … More Come Back to Jesus: A Lenten Devotional by the Readers and Authors of The Pietist Option
The Pietist Schoolman 