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If Your Church Doesn’t Preach the Gospel- Hiding in Plain Sight: The Lost Doctrine of Sin
- Closer Than You Think (The Trouble with Deconstruction)
- Why Imputation Parenting Books Will Never Sell
- What Happened After Mr Rogers Visited Koko the Gorilla
- Everything Happens For a Reason… And Other Lies I’ve Loved
- My Church Is Not CrossFit
- God’s Two Words: An Introduction
- Why Is Jesus Slumming With that Denomination?
- Grace in an Age of Fentanyl
- What They Don’t Show You on Fixer Upper
- Improve Thyself! On the Fantasy Self You’re Failing to Become
- Experiencing the Spirit in Failure and in Love – Simeon Zahl
- A Lucky Break: How Grace Frees Us From Being Control Freaks – Michael Horton
- Comforting the Heart of Hearing: Distinguishing Law and Gospel as Pastoral Care – Jady Koch
- Jesus Means Freedom – RJ Heijmen
- It’s All True – Sarah Condon
- The Great Invincible Surmise – David Zahl
- The Deadliest Catch – Jacob Smith
- Round Up the Usual Suspects – Matthew Schneider
- Everything I Never Learned From Seinfeld – David Zahl
- A Dirty Church, Body Shame and God’s Twisted Smile – Chad Bird
- Not Weak on Sanctification: Christians Grow in Reverse – Nick Lannon
- The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody – John Zahl
- Let Not Conscience Make You Linger – Timothy Blackmon
- You’ve kept all your New Year’s Resolutions – since grade school.
- Your favorite verse in the Bible is “God helps those who help themselves.”
- Your Fortnite handle used to be “PelagiusRulz98” but you changed it to “PhariC4life.”
- The twelve steps you value most are the ones you just logged on your Fitbit.
- Who you are online and who you are in person are identical.
- Your children are even more well-behaved at home than they are in public.
- You’re so secure in your justification that it wouldn’t even occur to you to atone for ransacking that Best Buy on Friday.
- You’re suspicious of all socially conscious hashtags, especially those that seem like the lovechild of Oprah Winfrey and Gavin Belson.
- You haven’t heard that Mockingbird has to close a pretty significant gap before year’s end (what with all the scholarships and free stuff we give away) and could really use your help before we have to cut back.
- You resent reverse psychology, no matter how well-meaning or tongue-in-cheek.
I’m So Worried: How God Loves Me Through Anxiety – Carrie Willard
Another gem from our OKC Conference, this one from Carrie Willard. Come for the Monty Python tune, stay for the moving hymn sing, with a beautiful reflection on a mother’s angst in between.
I’m So Worried: How God Loves Me Through Anxiety – Carrie Willard from Mockingbird on Vimeo
The Time Has Come
From heightened expectations to regrets about past failures, the turn of the year offers plenty of unique difficulties. So for those of us who remain not-very-skilled at New Year’s resolutions (and other time-sensitive things), here’s a *timely* devotion from An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel: Meditations on Mark, by Larry Parsley. Take heart, and happy […]
Pot Kettle Black: Keeping the Mocking-Score in 2018
For those looking to while away the yuletide coma, here’s a rundown of what content got traction in 2018. It’s limited to stuff that was posted in 2018, rather than viewed then (if we were including previous years‘ output, for example, this post would’ve come in third). Enjoy!
Top Posts
Honorable Mentions: Mother of All Mothers, We Were Not Made to Be Famous, Five Years of Grace and Bad Coffee, Johnny Cash and Our Culture of Mercilessness, The Gift of Profanity, Still in Diapers at Thirty, Wendell Berry’s Plea for Grace, On Being the Center of the Universe
Three Most Popular Talkingbird Episodes
Most Popular Facebook Post (From a Post Not Mentioned Above): This one and then, this one
Most Popular Instagram: Aw shucks
Most Downloaded Sermons
Most Watched Conference Talks
Please Come Home for Christmas
This one comes to us from none other than Alan Jacobs.
Christmas, properly understood from an adult perspective, is always tinged with melancholy. If we don’t grasp this instinctively, Advent will teach it to us. The church’s year begins with Advent, and Advent begins, really, at that moment when God says that Eve’s offspring will one day crunch the head of the serpent who tempted her. That’s when the waiting starts, and what we’re waiting for is someone to come fix the mess we’ve made of the things that were put in our trust. That He eventually comes is wonderful beyond hope; that we so desperately needed Him to come … well, that’s where the melancholy comes in.
And that’s why the best Christmas song, for me, will always be Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas.”
The song begins with three peals of a bell, and for all we know it could be a funeral bell, what used to be called a “passing bell,” so slow and measured is the pealing. We may be encouraged when Charles tells us, straight off, that not just this bell but all the bells are ringing “the glad glad news” — except that Charles isn’t glad. He is loveless and friendless, and while he doesn’t say so explicitly, you get the sense that much of the blame for his condition is his own. Certainly he doesn’t condemn anyone else.
He has only one hope — or maybe not even that, maybe just a plea: Please come home for Christmas. If that happens … well, let’s just say that what he wishes for places a great weight on one person’s shoulders, more weight than a mere mortal can bear. But if it’s a certain person — if it’s One who can indeed make all things right — then the plea becomes hope, and the hope comes to be fulfilled. In that case the last words of the song will be the best words of all:
There’ll be no more sorrow
no grief and pain
‘cause I’ll be happy at Christmas once again
And then one last peal of the bell, a peal — no doubt this time — for the glad glad news.
Why You Should Spend Whatever You Like Buying Friends and Loved Ones Gifts They Don’t Expect (and Don’t Deserve)
This one comes to us from our friend Jason Micheli. I’ve grown wary of the Christmas “tradition” of bemoaning the commercialization of Christmas in our culture. Too often, we begin Advent not with Isaiah’s laments or John the Baptist’s words of judgment but our own words of lament and judgment, criticizing others for being so […]
A Fictional Non-Eulogy on What Faith Really Means, by Robert Farrar Capon
The following snippet comes from Exit 36: A Fictional Chronicle, by Robert Farrar Capon. Detailing a tumultuous month in the life of a parish priest, this mystical novel disentangles the most crucial of themes: death, romance, mystery, and redemption. Here, our narrator Father William Jansson reflects on ‘faith’, following the passing of his dear friend, […]
Grace in an Age of Distraction II – Steven Paulson
The second of Steven Paulson’s stellar presentations at our recent OKC Conference, this one’s gotten a lot of love from those who’ve heard it. It works both in concert with and independent of the first one:
Grace in an Age of Distraction 2 – Steven Paulson from Mockingbird on Vimeo.
Hopelessly Devoted: Legal Christianity
This reflection was written by Alexander Chapota. When I became a Christian nearly twenty years ago, I knew the run was over. I was tired of lying, life had become so heavy, and I badly craved relief. And so I repented of my sin and dedicated my life to Christ. And yet, not many months […]
Now Available! An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel: Meditations on Mark, by Larry Parsley
We could not be more pleased to announce the latest Mockingbird publication, An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel: Meditations on Mark, by Larry Parsley.
This accessible, down-to-earth devotional walks verse-by-verse through the shortest official take on the biggest life ever lived — the story of Jesus played out in the Gospel of Mark. You’ll follow in the footsteps of Jesus as he performs healings and preaches to crowds. Mockingbird writer Larry Parsley brings the story to life, offering approachable, personal, and insightful commentary along the way.
You can purchase An Easy Stroll through our newly redesigned bookstore (store.mbird.com) where you can also find all of Mockingbird’s other publications, along with seminars for purchase and a selection of merchandise…! Major thank-you to Brian M for the redesign.
As with all of our books, An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel is also available through Amazon—and all positive reviews help promote the cause!
“This is a short, meditative work that you will want to read slowly and repeatedly as you walk through the shortest and oldest canonical Gospel. As you do, significant—sometimes startling—insights await, as Larry Parsley gently, thoughtfully, and ably guides you through Mark. As it happens, Dr. Parsley has written his first book on the first Gospel. My hope is that this work is but the first fruits of future harvests from this gifted interpreter, storyteller, and teacher.” — Todd D. Still, Ph.D., Professor of Christian Scriptures in the George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University
“A gentle journey… Larry’s wisdom and eye for beauty might readily serve as inspiration for daily spiritual exercises.” ― Dr. Paul Scott Wilson, Professor of Homiletics at Emmanuel College, Toronto, and author of The Four Pages of the Sermon
“Wonderfully refreshing…compelling [and] down-to-earth… It truly is ‘an easy stroll’ and a disarmingly profound one simultaneously. All I know is that I will never teach from Mark’s Gospel again without first consulting this book.” — Andy McQuitty, author of Notes from the Valley: A Spiritual Travelogue Through Cancer and The Way to Brave: Shaping a David Faith for a Goliath World
Find An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel in Mockingbird’s new online bookstore and on Amazon.
The Distraction of Our Lives – Jady Koch
Here comes the next video from our OKC Conference last month! The illustrious Rev. Dr. Koch presiding:
The Distraction of our Lives – Jady Koch from Mockingbird on Vimeo.
Same Old Song Sings Again!
Thrilled to announce that our lectionary podcast, Same Old Song, is back! Join Jacob Smith and new co-host Aaron Zimmerman each week as they break down the lectionary texts for the coming Sunday. Abounding with Gospel insight, (in)appropriate cultural references, and a heart for the sufferer in the pew, Same Old Song works as an audio devotional just as much as a resource for the sermon-prepping pastor. All in 25 minutes or less.
New episodes will drop every Tuesday. You can listen/subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. Google Play and Stitcher coming soon, God-willing. Oh, and if you’re still subscribed to the old feed, you’ll probably have to re-up via one of the links above, as we switched hosts during the hiatus.
Lectionary readings can be found here. And thank you for your patience. We’re so excited to resume!
P.S. Same Old Song will be on The Mockingapp soon! Look for an update next week.
10 Reasons Not to Support Mockingbird on #GivingTuesday (Today)
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P.S. To get our (earnest) end of the year update and appeal, which goes out next week, be sure to sign up for our mailing list.
