Category: The Rev

The Rev has started publishing a series of devotional posts on his website called, "Life Verses: Conversations in the verses that give meaning to life." His first one is on John 15:5. You can check it out here: http://danielmrose.com/2018/06/08/remain-in-me/...

There is just something about stories right? We all love them. Telling a story and having people "get it" is one of the best feelings in the world. Stories are central to human communication. It's not surprising then that the Bible talks about the importance of story telling. In Psalm 107 it's even a command. The Rev wrote on this a bit over at his blog, go check it out: Let Them Tell Their Story  ...

Recently, The Rev spent the week at the local middle school working with kids to help them understand that they matter. The middle school had experienced three suicides in the last 18 months. Some teachers decided it was time to remind these kids that they matter. Here are some thoughts from The Rev on his week... http://danielmrose.com/2018/04/17/why-you-matter/...

“…this is American Idol!” The music is bumping and the lights are shining. The singers take the stage and belt out an amazing performance. The crowd is screaming and clapping. “…and now our next President!” The music is bumping and the lights are shining. The politician takes the stage and the crowd is screaming and clapping. “…your 2018 Sports Team!” The music is bumping and the lights are shining. The team takes the stage and the crowd is screaming and clapping. As I read through the Bible it continues to strike me that the people of God are easily attracted to idols. Every other page, it seems, there they go worshiping the Baals and the Asherah poles. It’s a never ending cycle. Round and round they go. For a moment they are worshiping the God who saved them from oppression and slavery only to find themselves drawn again to the Baals and Asherah poles. I think that we often look at these stories with disbelief. We think...

I opened up my Twitter one day and saw the critique of white pastors, “You speak privately, but not publicly.” I opened up my Twitter one day and saw the critique of men, “I’m disappointed in the men who said nice things about your moms, wives, and daughters because that wasn’t the point of International Women’s Day.” I opened up my Twitter one day and saw the critique of evangelicals, “You don’t challenge the Christians who are doing horrible things loud enough.” I opened up my Twitter one day and saw the critique… Some of us seek to speak for the oppressed and the marginalized. We are coming to recognize what is obvious to everyone around us, that we have tremendous power. As a result, there is a need to leverage that power for those whom we have set aside and created a system to oppress. Many of us, don’t want kudos. We don’t need an “atta boy” for doing things that are right and...

Do you think that revolutionary moments in our thoughts happen like a lightning strike or like the turning of the Titanic? I don’t know for sure but I think the answer might be, “yes.” I remember hearing an interview with someone who was an “over night success.” This person said that they hated that phrase because their success was built on years of work. Yet, to the watching world it appeared as though they came out of “nowhere.” I recently had one of those moments about Jesus. Yes, a pastor can still have revolutionary realizations about Jesus. I think of myself as someone who thinks well and thinks with theological clarity. Yet, this past year has been a time of wandering and wondering for me. I have had many questions that I was struggling to find answers for. In particular, I was struggling with the reality that my faithfulness was, in some dark moments, less than ideal. Was I still a Christian...

One day my pastor invited me to join him on a pastoral visit to a nursing home. I wanted to please him, so I said I would go. I had no desire to be there. I didn’t know this woman we were going to see, but I knew once we got that out of the way we would go to lunch and we could discuss theology. I have never liked nursing homes. In high school and college it seemed like I was always connected with some group of people who wanted to go Christmas caroling at “the old folks home.” I loathed that time. The place was depressing. The old people sat there in their wheelchairs staring out into nothingness or nodding along silently clapping their hands. The places also smelled. They smelled “too clean.” They were always so institutional and if you had been in one, you’d been in them all. This day with my pastor we walked into the room....

I have written elsewhere about how the opening chapters of the Bible are becoming very important to me. I have also made mention that it is out of this idea that love of enemy and love of neighbor is born. C.S. Lewis said in his magisterial The Weight of Glory that your neighbor is the most holy object that you come into contact with apart from the Eucharist. Why is this concept, “the image of God,” so central to the Christian’s understanding of humanity? What is the big deal? My tradition is often accused of having a very negative view of humanity. We are the people who coined the phrase, “total depravity,” so I suppose the accusation is warranted. One of our most famous preachers is well known for his sermon, Sinners In The Hands of an Angry God. You don’t get much more negative than that title. Nonetheless, I would argue that this caricature is not truly accurate. One of my favorite...

I believe that the Scriptures are something more than a nice book or a collection of myths. I have come to the conclusion that “the Scriptures” are authoritative for my life. All of us have given authority to something or someone to shape who we are (even if it’s ourselves). For me it is the Scriptures. Writing that feels odd. I don’t really know why, but it does. I think it’s because over the last few years I have really wrestled with the Bible and the way that many in my tribe worship it as a god or god. I have struggled with things that I have read in it and worked through questions in the Greek and Hebrew. There are still questions that I have, but I have come to the conclusion that at the very least, the Scriptures are the best way for me to learn and know about Jesus. Yet, this question has haunted me, “What does it mean...

I am beginning to realize that the opening chapters of Genesis are more important than I ever could have thought. They are a poem, an epic poem, that tells the story of humanity. We find our ultimate and foundational identity of “image bearer” described there. In that poem we discover the roots of our fall from that identity and the foreshadowing of our redemption. Two things have particularly stood out to me in these opening pages of the Bible. First, humanity has a vocation, men and women, to create. This is an idea that has been a part of my understanding of the Christian faith for a long time. What is new is that little word, “vocation.” I have often referred to what God sets up for us to do as a “calling.” But that’s not really the best word. It is a vocation. Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have...