by jakeowensby | Jan 10, 2020 | Matthew 3:13-17
If you’re trying to please God, I really wish you would stop. That’s not what real love looks like. It’s just people-pleasing on a cosmic scale. And people pleasing misconstrues love as a transaction. People-pleasers are some of the nicest, most helpful people you’ll...
by jakeowensby | Mar 8, 2019 | Luke 4:1-13
I love key lime pie. And carrot cake and peach cobbler and butter pecan ice cream. Some people will say, “You don’t love things. You love people. You like those desserts.” But, honestly, I do love them. That’s what we humans do. We love. We love people, non-human...
by jakeowensby | Jun 22, 2018 | Uncategorized
Shortly after our dog Gracie adopted us, I learned that a friend of mine refuses to have a dog. He loves dogs. And there lies the problem. Caring can be painful. For over a decade my friend and his Labrador Retriever had been inseparable. Then his constant companion...
by jakeowensby | Dec 28, 2017 | 1 Christmas B, John 1:1-18
The story of Jesus begins long before the manger and even before the angel Gabriel’s startling announcement to Mary. Before God said, “Let there be light,” and “Let there be stars and moon, fish and birds, cows and caterpillars,” God said, “Let there be Jesus.” In...
by jakeowensby | Oct 13, 2017 | grace, Matthew 22:1-14, Proper 23 A
Just because you’re sitting next to people at the dinner table doesn’t mean you’re actually close to them. Take for instance my memory of the first time my wife Joy and I shared Thanksgiving dinner with my father, his wife, and his in-laws from that marriage. Joy and...
