lent

A Journey of Resistance with Bonhoeffer

As Lent begins, Leah launches a special series within “Earthly Empire & Divine Kin-dom,” focusing on the life and resistance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. She examines how Bonhoeffer’s time in New York—studying at Union Theological Seminary, worshiping at Abyssinian Baptist Church, and confronting American racism—transformed his understanding of Jesus and justice. These experiences sharpened his resistance to Hitler’s rise in Germany, as he saw faith not as mere platitudes but as a radical call to action. Leah challenges us to reflect on our own lives: How have our experiences shaped our faith? How do we discern our personal path of resistance to injustice? This teaching invites us to step into Lent with renewed awareness, courage, and commitment to the work of Divine kin-dom.

Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.

We're All Vulnerable...And That's OK

PC: Bill Dickinson. Learn more here.

PC: Bill Dickinson. Learn more here.

On this Sunday before the official beginning of Lent, Leah introduces us to the theme. Haven will be inviting folks to consider throughout the Lenten season: the vulnerability of being human. What if the most true thing we can say about the human condition is that it’s vulnerable? What might that tell us about the significance of God’s choice to reveal God’s self by becoming a vulnerable human? How might reflecting on the vulnerability of Jesus shape our Lenten journey? Leah considers these questions and more as she looks at the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.

Listen to the teaching below or read Leah’s notes here.

Bubble Bursting

Bubble Bursting

I read an interesting article on Wired a while back called, “I Liked Everything I Saw on Facebook for Two Days. Here’s What It Did to Me.”  I found it kind of morbidly fascinating.  Just as an interesting non-scientific experiment the writer, Mat Honan, decided to try hitting the like button for everything that came up in his facebook feed.  He wanted to see what would become of the feed.  It was a chance to poke at the robots and algorithms behind the facebook magic, and see how they’d respond.