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SUPER Big

Willow, my 3 year old, recently told me that her sister was “big” and so that meant that I was “(add large arm gestures) SUUUPER BIG”. Willow’s perspective shows us something of the problem that we have with growth as Christians. Most of the time we consider that we are growing into the image of…

Sprouting Wisdom

I remember asking a little kid what he wanted to be when he grew up and getting a pretty surprising answer from the youngster. “I want to be wise,” he said. I chuckled a little and asked a follow up question, “So how are you going to get to be wise?” “I dunno,” the young…

Sprouting in the Spirit

This is the first week of Advent, which means that it’s a new Church Year, which means that it is time to announce our annual focus for the year! If you’re new to University Lutheran’s annual focus, it is a theme that we keep in mind throughout the year. This year’s focus is the first…

Ascension and the Pertinent Negative

In the short story “Silver Blaze” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, notices something that didn’t happen. In the story, a Scotland Yard inspector is asking for what Holmes noticed about the evidence in a given case. Holmes replies, “the curious incident of the dog.” The inspector, probably rummaging…

Hopes for your neighbors

According to Jesus, everyone is your neighbor. That means that the person who lives next to you is your neighbor. The person at your job is your neighbor. That person online is your neighbor. The convenience store clerk? Your neighbor too. That person who lives on the island of Tuvalu, also your neighbor. Your enemy…

The Volunteer Bartender

I was the only bartender in the bar that night and we had run out of limes. It was easy enough for me to tell the guys who were pounding the Coronas (so therefore the limes as well) that we had run out of limes, but that would mean that they would shuffle off to…

Who do you see?

The French artist known only as “JR” is semi-famous for a self-portrait. The full title of the work is “Self-Portrait in a Woman’s Eye, Kenya, from 28 Milimetres, Women are Heroes , 2010”.  The portrait at first appears to be a close up of someone’s eye, but as you look closer, you find the reflection…

Who are you to God?

At the end of the 2005 movie, “Smoke” starring Harvey Keitel, he tells a story about chasing down a kid who was shoplifting in his store. The kid drops his wallet but gets away from Auggie (Keitel’s character). Auggie, then decided to take the wallet home but doesn’t do anything with it for a while.…