Try Walking In My Shoes, Revisted

Back in April, I shared a video that explains what it can be like for someone with autism/aspergers to walk down a street.  I said at the time that the video captured a lot of what I deal with at times, especially the getting distracted by…everything.

Keep reading....

Sunday Sermon: “Keep Calm and Carry On”

“Keep Calm and Carry On”
Mark 13:1-8 and Hebrews 10:11-18
Twenty Fifth Sunday of Pentecost
November 18, 2012
First Christian Church
Minneapolis, MN
I can remember that afternoon very clearly.  It was a rainy Sunday and I was taking a nap after church.  It was then we heard the sirens go on.  We turned on the radio and heard about a funnel cloud being sited not too far from our house.  I peeked through the window to see the trees in the neighborhood being whipped back and forth in the high winds.  I ran back towards the bedroom telling my partner Daniel that we needed to get downstairs right now.  I grabbed my cat Felix and we made our way downstairs.  As we made our way down the stairs, we could hear a mighty whooshing sound and soon thereafter, the power went out.  We stayed downstairs for a while until the storm outside calmed down.  The house was okay, there was no damage, but as we made our way out of the house, we saw the devastation.  Large trees were uprooted, roofs were blown off houses.  Daniel and I, along with the rest of North Minneapolis had just gone through a tornado.

Keep reading...

[Shared Post] Soul Searching, Republicans and the Mainline Church

Dennis posted: "Being a Republican right now is both frustrating and a bit hopeful.  As someone who has been worried about the direction of the party over the years, there is something hopeful of how Republicans are trying to understand the sweeping victory of the Democ" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor Soul Searching, Republicans and the Mainline Church by Dennis Being a Republican right now is both frustrating and a bit hopeful.  As someone who has been worried about the direction of the party over the years, there is something hopeful of how Republicans are trying to understand the sweeping victory of the Democrats last week.  I've seen a bunch of articles about the how [...] Read more of this post Dennis | November 17, 2012 at 12:19 am | Categories: Alan Bevere, church, church life, liberal christianity, liberal protestantism, politics | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gZ Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/soul-searching-republicans-and-the-mainline-church/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] Resurrection and "Skyfall"

Dennis posted: " My partner and I love James Bond movies, so of course we went to see the latest film in the franchise, Skyfall, on opening night.  I tend to think it's going to be one of the better of the Bond flicks and I've enjoyed the direction Bond has taken sin" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor Resurrection and “Skyfall” by Dennis My partner and I love James Bond movies, so of course we went to see the latest film in the franchise, Skyfall, on opening night.  I tend to think it's going to be one of the better of the Bond flicks and I've enjoyed the direction Bond has taken since Daniel Craig took the role [...] Read more of this post Dennis | November 15, 2012 at 11:20 pm | Tags: entertainment, james bond film | Categories: movies | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gW Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/resurrection-and-skyfall/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

Our Hope Is Built on Nothing Less...

A few thoughts on the election... -My candidate for President didn't win, but the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota was defeated. Three other states, Maine, Maryland and Washington all voted in favor of legalizing same sex marriage. Personally, I think it's a great move forward in gay rights. That said, I think we need to be mindful of those in our neighborhood and moreso in our pews who faithfully disagree on this issue. As much as I disagree with him, Rod Dreher's blog post this morning should be read as how social conservatives feel about the changing climate. They are fearful of having to give up what they believe is a moral belief. It behooves those of us who favor same-sex marriage, especially those of us in the church, to reach out to these folks with openess and love and not just dismiss them. I think we have to do this for two reasons: one, because we are Christians and two, because the most dangerous animal is one that is backed into a corner.

Continue Reading...

[Shared Post] Jesus Christ: Blue or Red?

Dennis posted: "   CNN has a interesting quiz you take to determine what kind of Jesus you prefer. Yeah, I'm serious. Read the article before it, because it speaks volumes about our current world.  Here's part of it: If elections are about choices, so is" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor Jesus Christ: Blue or Red? by Dennis   CNN has a interesting quiz you take to determine what kind of Jesus you prefer. Yeah, I'm serious. Read the article before it, because it speaks volumes about our current world.  Here's part of it: If elections are about choices, so is faith. And in Christianity, liberals and conservatives choose to see Jesus in [...] Read more of this post Dennis | November 5, 2012 at 12:04 am | Categories: politics | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gO Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/jesus-christ-blue-or-red/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] Sunday Sermon: "When You Do This, Remember Me"

Dennis posted: ""When You Do This, Remember Me" John 11:34-42 and Revelation 21:1-6 All Saints Sunday First Christian Church Minneapolis, MN I can remember like it was yesterday.  It was November of 1976 and the election season was winding down.  As the grow" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor Sunday Sermon: “When You Do This, Remember Me” by Dennis "When You Do This, Remember Me" John 11:34-42 and Revelation 21:1-6 All Saints Sunday First Christian Church Minneapolis, MN I can remember like it was yesterday.  It was November of 1976 and the election season was winding down.  As the grown ups were getting ready to vote between then Governor Jimmy Carter and President Gerald [...] Read more of this post Dennis | November 4, 2012 at 11:30 pm | Tags: election day communion | Categories: politics, sermons | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gJ Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/sunday-sermon-when-you-do-this-remember-me/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Conservatives

Dennis posted: "[caption id="attachment_1027" align="alignleft" width="220"] Timothy Dalrymple[/caption] I happened to look at a sermon I wrote about 7 years ago.  It was during the time I was involved in a new church start.  Reading the sermon, I tend to think it w" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Conservatives by Dennis I happened to look at a sermon I wrote about 7 years ago.  It was during the time I was involved in a new church start.  Reading the sermon, I tend to think it wasn't my best sermonizing.  The sermon seems a fitting for the current context; it was based on Micah 6:1-8 and focused [...] Read more of this post Dennis | October 22, 2012 at 3:23 pm | Categories: conservatism, conservativism, culture, culture wars, gay rights, homosexuality, LGBT, politics, same sex marriage | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gu Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-social-conservatives/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] Social Media and Social Witness

Dennis posted: "A recent post by Michael Kruse put a finger on something that has been bothering me lately.  Kruse is talking here about pastors and social media: I unfollowed six people on twitter in recent months because of their incessant divisive political tweets, " Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor Social Media and Social Witness by Dennis A recent post by Michael Kruse put a finger on something that has been bothering me lately.  Kruse is talking here about pastors and social media: I unfollowed six people on twitter in recent months because of their incessant divisive political tweets, especially during the primary debates. The majority have been pastors or academics, including [...] Read more of this post Dennis | October 18, 2012 at 4:27 pm | Categories: politics | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gp Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/social-media-and-social-witness/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] Sunday Sermon: "In God We Trust"

Dennis posted: ""In God We Trust" Mark 10:17-31 Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost October 14, 2012 First Christian Church Minneapolis, MN I will admit it: I really don't like this passage. Why don't I like it?  For a lot of reasons.  I don't like ho" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor Sunday Sermon: “In God We Trust” by Dennis "In God We Trust" Mark 10:17-31 Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost October 14, 2012 First Christian Church Minneapolis, MN I will admit it: I really don't like this passage. Why don't I like it?  For a lot of reasons.  I don't like how people sometimes use this passage to lord over others.  People who are full [...] Read more of this post Dennis | October 16, 2012 at 9:01 am | Tags: church, religion, theology | Categories: Disciples, disciples of christ, First Christian Minneapolis, sermons | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gl Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/sunday-sermon-in-god-we-trust/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] The Intolerable Thing

Dennis posted: "It's quite common in Progressive Christian circles to talk about the importance of justice or doing things for others over belief.  There is a reason for this; that being the sad history of people who had solid beliefs in Christianity and yet their lives" Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor The Intolerable Thing by Dennis It's quite common in Progressive Christian circles to talk about the importance of justice or doing things for others over belief.  There is a reason for this; that being the sad history of people who had solid beliefs in Christianity and yet their lives did not reflect what they were saying.  I am reminded of [...] Read more of this post Dennis | October 11, 2012 at 11:36 pm | Tags: peter gomes, peter j gomes, religion, theology | Categories: church, church life, culture, ecclesiology | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gi Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/the-intolerable-thing/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[Shared Post] A Pastoral Letter on the Marriage Amendment

Dennis posted: "I wrote the following for the church newsletter regarding the proposed Minnesota Marriage Amendment which would limit marriage to one man and one woman.  The thrust of this letter was to share why I stood where I stood, but do it (hopefully) in a spirit " Dennis (dennis.sanders@gmail.com) shared a post from The Clockwork Pastor A Pastoral Letter on the Marriage Amendment by Dennis I wrote the following for the church newsletter regarding the proposed Minnesota Marriage Amendment which would limit marriage to one man and one woman.  The thrust of this letter was to share why I stood where I stood, but do it (hopefully) in a spirit of respect towards those I disagree with. I love chatting [...] Read more of this post Dennis | September 26, 2012 at 11:17 pm | Categories: civility, culture wars, gay, gay rights, grace, inclusion, LGBT, politics, same sex marriage | URL: http://wp.me/p12whF-gc Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/a-pastoral-letter-on-the-marriage-amendment/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com