Dave Buerstetta on striving to do justice and love others while walking humbly with God
In the car together last night, my daughter implored me to stop playing Christmas music as she is "over it." It seems she is not alone. Here on the 28th of December, most of the world has moved on from Christmas. The radio stations dedicated to Christmas and holiday (and, let's be honest, odd "winter") …
Merry Christmas! The closest thing I have to a consistent tradition on this blog is this Christmas day offering.Each Christmas I post the Isaiah passage below (which is a reading for Christmas Eve worship every year); John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," which I find the world's best and most challenging Christmas song; and …
The winter solstice was Wednesday. We have a tradition of offering a worship service on the day (in our hemisphere) with the shortest amount of daylight. On this longest night of the year, we take some time amidst the celebrations of this Christmas and holiday season to approach God in honesty and humility. On this …
Here's what I wrote our congregation, Woodridge UMC, this week: In this fourth week of Advent, we continue to wait for the birth of the Christ Child. In lieu of some inevitably over-long treatise, allow me to offer a few brief instances of inspiration I’ve recently encountered. Wanting words of wisdom to redirect our thinking?“Darkness and …
Growing up in the '70s and '80s in a family that was actively involved in a Baptist* congregation meant going to church on Wednesdays as well as Sundays. *Important distinction: ours was (well, still is) an American Baptist church, not part of the Southern Baptist Convention. We may have been White evangelicals (though we never …
Have you seen the movie yet? It is so good! Now, it is largely a story about grief, so it is pretty sad. But it is a glorious tribute to Chadwick Boseman the person as well as his portrayal of the character, T'Challa. Director Ryan Coogler and all the actors did a tremendous job. My …
This past Sunday, our son and I simultaneously arrived at our driveway from opposite directions. I, returning from church. He, from baseball practice. Our conversation went something like this:Him: How was church?Me: Good! The band played for the first time in a while and sounded great! We had a good crowd, including some folks we …
Routines often help us stay organized and optimized, saving energy and brain power for more important decisions. (I talked about this in a sermon recently--I'll have to get that posted here soon!) But routines can also become ruts and sap energy. For years now, my partner in ministry at Woodridge UMC, Lead Pastor Rev. Danita …
Previously on All I Can’t Leave Unsaid… “Take care of your blog,” Robin Rendle wrote. “Blogging changed my life,” my friend Hugh Hollowell, Jr. wrote in a recent newsletter. Inspired by them I’ve returned to this space… one two three and a half weeks later I’m still trying to get this post up. Ugh. Such is life here at All …
Previously on All I Can't Leave Unsaid... “Take care of your blog,” Robin Rendle wrote. “Blogging changed my life,” my friend Hugh Hollowell, Jr. wrote in a recent newsletter. Inspired by them I’ve returned to this space… one two three and a half weeks later I’m still trying to get this post up. Ugh. Such is life here at All …
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 