Finding Sin in Success

Finding Sin in Success

In a dog-eat-dog world, what do you do if you have unexpected success? Do you tell all your friends and family about it? Do you throw a party? Do you go out for a night on the town? In our world, we want to celebrate success. We give ribbons and trophies to our kids, and, at work, we have employee-of-the-month programs. Additionally, we expect raises and promotions for our career successes. Perhaps the last thing success does, is prompt us to see our own brokenness. But, this is what happens when Simon Peter has the best fishing day of his life. He realizes he’s a sinner. Tune in to today’s program to see how Simon Peter’s repentance leads to the greatest calling of his life and how his example just might help us find our calling as well.

When We Side with King Charles Instead of King Jesus.

Today’s gospel reading is a hard one to digest. Jesus tells us, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The implication is that you have to be crucified with Christ. After all, that’s what happens when you pick up the cross. The last time I checked, there aren’t any appointments for crucifixion in Minnesota, so what does it mean for us today? Tune in to find out.

What's Your Credit ... er, I Mean ... Honor Score?

Credit scores mean everything to us. They allow us to buy homes, cars, and even work at particular jobs. If you have a bad credit score, though, functioning in society can be very difficult, if not impossible. The ancient world had credit scores too, though they called it “honor.” But, their scores weren’t determined through spending habits. Instead, they were born with their score. But, in today’s Gospel, Jesus offers them a way to get the best score possible. Tune in to find out how and whether we too can get better credit!

Protesting This World by Giving It All Up

Last week, we saw a vision of the Kingdom, a world in which the king grants forgiveness and commissions us to do likewise. This week, we get a deeper look into what it means to be a citizen of this Kingdom. As we’ll see, it means rejecting the values of this world and adopting the values of the Kingdom. It means reorienting out relationship to power and sticking it to the man! Tune in to find out how, exactly, Jesus calls us to do this.

To Forgive or Not to Forgive? That Is the Question.

Last week, the US government announced that they are going to forgive up to $20,000 worth of federal student loans for millions of people. Some people are overjoyed, but others are angry. They say, “It’s unfair. Why should their debts be forgiven when mine weren’t?” This goes to show that forgiveness is scandalous business, especially when judged by the values of our culture. But, as a preacher friend of mine wrote on Facebook, that’s the point the Bible is making. Forgiveness is what the Gospel is about, that’s what the Good News is. It’s how the Kingdom is made present, and how our broken world is healed and transfigured. Tune in to this week’s podcast to learn more about how forgiveness helps manifest the Kingdom in the here and now.