by Christian Coon | Nov 14, 2023 | BLOG, Daily living
CTA adventures: I was taking the Green Line to church this morning when a gentleman approached me… Him: “What’s that book about? Church?” Me (I’m re-reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s “Leaving Church,” her memoir of leaving...
by Christian Coon | Mar 30, 2022 | BLOG, Holy Spirit, Prayer
There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character…He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. (Luke 23:50, 51b The Message) For my birthday last January, my wife got us tickets to see the...
by Christian Coon | Feb 24, 2022
My guest this episode is Benjamin Saulsberry, the Public Engagement and Museum Education Director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi. The story of Emmett Till’s lynching and murder has long had a haunting effect on me, partially because I...
by Christian Coon | Feb 24, 2022 | BLOG, Daily living, Everyday life, Sin
Do not plan harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you. (Proverbs 3:29, New Revised Standard Version) We live in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago in a little area called Dearborn Park II, about 3/4 mile west of the Field Museum. It’s a...
by Christian Coon | Jan 27, 2022 | BLOG, Faith, Spiritual practices
Then the ruler said, “I’ve kept all these things since I was a boy.” (Luke 18:21, Common English Bible) Rising COVID numbers, of course, put the kibosh on a lot of holiday events so on New Year’s Eve, my family kept things simple. My kids had a...
by Christian Coon | Nov 17, 2021 | BLOG, Gratitude
They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, New Revised Standard Version) Perhaps not surprisingly, pastors can sometimes be a purchasers...
by Christian Coon | Oct 20, 2021 | BLOG, Discipleship, Following, Trust
But we will have to run aground on some island. (Acts 27:26) It’s hard to believe, but next January will mark the 30th anniversary of my moving to the Chicago area. I’m not sure how I’ll commemorate the occasion, but it’s already bringing back...
by Christian Coon | Sep 22, 2021 | BLOG
Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his...
by Christian Coon | Aug 17, 2021 | Attentiveness, Focus, Grace, Prayer
You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. (Colossians 1:23, The Message) For Christmas last year, Emily McGinley (Urban Village’s Executive Pastor) gave everyone on staff...
by Christian Coon | Aug 6, 2021
One of the benefits of doing a podcast is it gives me the opportunity to reach out to people whose work I’ve long admired and see if there’s any chance they’d like to talk to me. It’s always a joyful surprise when many of them say yes. That was the case when I heard...
