Give up Nihilism For Lent

In the face of hopelessness, is there only strength and weakness? Are values and virtue not worth standing for? Vince closes our effort to give up “giving up” (for Lent) with some encouragements beyond our modern pulls toward nihilism. (Art by Morgan Sorensen @see_machine)

1 Corinthians, Romans, EcclesiastesVincent BrackettApril 15, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Give up "Pure" Community for Lent

What do we do when we know we need communities and institutions to lean on, but they let us down? Hayley and Vince continue our Lenten tradition of giving up (for Lent) hidden beliefs that cause us to give up. (Art: Ethiopian Icon of Jesus washing disciples' feet)

Ecclesiastes, JohnVincent BrackettApril 8, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Give up "it all comes down to me" for Lent

Continuing our Lenten tradition of giving up hidden beliefs that aren't serving us, Vince explores how basically all working people today end up believing "it all comes down to me", and offers the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert as inspiration to not give up. (Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash)

1 Corinthians, Matthew, EcclesiastesVincent BrackettApril 1, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Give up Performing Your Self for Lent

This week, for our Lenten tradition of giving up hidden beliefs that aren't serving us, we're finding language for our numbness in the book of Ecclesiastes, and finding help for our weary, modern "selves" in the stories of Jesus' healings.

Ecclesiastes, JohnVincent BrackettMarch 25, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Give up the “Just World” Theory for Lent

For our BLC Lenten tradition, join us in giving up hidden beliefs we hold (religious and secular) that aren't serving us. This week: how the Hebrew Bible's Ecclesiastes captures our modern feelings of meaninglessness when we unconsciously believe everyone gets what they deserve.

Ecclesiastes, Matthew, LukeVincent BrackettMarch 18, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Ash Wednesday Devotion

The modern world doesn't stop for a random Wednesday in the Church Calendar. If you're on the go, let us help you mark Ash Wednesday with this guided prayer.

Vincent BrackettMarch 5, 2025Comment

Good Doubt / Better Theology (wk 4: Spirit & Flesh)

Hayley and Vince re-load a Bible study on the oft-misused references to spirit and flesh in the New Testament, as they continue modeling the use of two strategies for cultivating life-giving faith in the face of modern confusion, injustice, and burnout.

1 Corinthians, Romans, MatthewVincent BrackettMarch 4, 2025Good Doubt-Better TheologyComment

Good Doubt / Better Theology (wk 2: Jesus died for your sins)

Hayley and Vince talk more about the two "untangling" strategies people in BLC tend to find helpful for cultivating life-giving faith in the face of modern confusion, injustice, and burnout. This week's Bible study to see our strategies in action: New Testament passages about Jesus dying for our sins.

1 John, 1 Peter, RomansVincent BrackettFebruary 18, 2025Good Doubt-Better TheologyComment

Good Doubt / Better Theology (wk 1: Household Codes)

There are multiple good strategies for cultivating life-giving faith in the face of confusion, injustice, and the demands of modern life. Hayley and Vince describe two strategies they tend to hear people in BLC share about.

1 Timothy, Colossians, Ephesians, 2 CorinthiansVincent BrackettFebruary 11, 2025Good Doubt-Better TheologyComment

Community Organizing

Bringing to a close our focus on "Neighboring" (loving our neighbors as ourselves), Vince interviews his old friend Hannah, a community organizer with Chicago's ONE Northside.

Matthew, GenesisVincent BrackettFebruary 4, 2025Neighboring 2025Comment