The Rev. Dr. David Lose

Denomination: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Organization: Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

The Rev. Dr. David Lose is the president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, PA, where he began serving in 2014. Earlier he held the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

David J. Lose joined the Luther Seminary faculty in July of 2000 as assistant professor of homiletics. In May 2005, he received the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching.

Previously, Lose served as a pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Princeton Junction, N.J., and as a teaching fellow and visiting lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, N.J.

He received his bachelor of arts degree in English and psychology from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., in 1988. He earned his master of divinity degree (1993) and his master of sacred theology (1997) from The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. In May 2000, he earned his doctorate in homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Lose's professional experience also includes serving as visiting instructor at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa (Spring 1999) and at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, N.J. (Fall 1998). In addition, he has served as pastor for two other churches in New Jersey (1993-1998) and has taught English literature, composition and public speaking at The Culver Educational Foundation in Culver, Ind.

Lose is the author of Making Sense of Scripture, Making Sense of the Christian Faith, and Making Sense of the Cross (Augsburg), and Confessing Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2003), named one of the "Top 10 Books of 2004" by the Academy of Parish Clergy. He is the author of numerous articles on preaching, biblical interpretation and theology, and is the editor of New Directions in Preaching (Chalice Press), a collection of essays from a new generation of homiletical scholars.

Visit his website "...In the Meantime" at www.DavidLose.net

Day1 Weekly Programs by The Rev. Dr. David Lose

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Like It Or Not

Tuesday March 13, 2012
In his sermon for Lent 4, the Rev. Dr. David Lose takes a hard look at one of the most beloved Bible verses, which with he has a love/hate relationship: John 3:16.

The Heartbreaking Messiah

Monday September 07, 2009
The Rev. Dr. David Lose explores the phenomenon of shattered expectations in light of Christ's question of his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"

Words of Eternal Life

Tuesday August 18, 2009
The Rev. Dr. David Lose probes Jesus' difficult teaching in John 6:59-69, and how we should respond to it today.

Realities Old and New

Sunday March 30, 2008
The Rev. Dr. David Lose proclaims that Easter is knowing that because we have been joined by Baptism to  Jesus and that we participate in his new reality and are liberated from the oppressive realities of this life.

From Riches to Rags

Sunday March 16, 2008
The Rev. Dr. David Lose helps us see with fresh eyes and open hearts the power of the passion story where Christ embodies God's radical love for creation.

Articles by The Rev. Dr. David Lose

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David Lose: Why #BlackLivesMatter

Sunday October 18, 2015
The controversy around the group and movement identified as #BlackLivesMatter has stirred no small amount of controversy since its inception. By stressing that black lives matter, the typical argument goes, they must be suggesting that black lives matter more than other lives. Isn’t everyone of value? Why this focus just on black lives?

David Lose: Introducing Pulpit Fiction

Saturday July 11, 2015
Robb and Eric’s podcast title and tagline – Pulpit Fiction: For those who looked up Ezekiel 25:17 and were sorely disappointed! – give you a pretty good sense of their creativity, insight, and wit.

David Lose: Is The Church Really In Decline? (Part 2)

Saturday June 27, 2015
A few weeks ago, I asked whether the church was really declining. That may seem like an odd question, given the constant bemoaning of attendance and membership declines in mainline congregations, but I pointed to the unparalleled growth of Christianity across the rest of the globe as indicating that perhaps our vision is at times to narrow when we consider God’s work in and through the church.

David Lose: How Do We Define Competent Leadership?

Sunday June 14, 2015
The key difference between performative and formative leadership is, I think, how we define competence. In performative leadership – again focusing on congregational leadership as an example – it’s about how good the pastor is at these central skills. In formative leadership, it’s about how much better the congregation becomes over time through the pastor’s leadership.

David Lose: Life Pitfalls: Confusing Busyness with Meaning

Tuesday May 05, 2015
This 'life pitfall' is quite simple: confusing keeping busy with leading a meaningful life. Actually, I’d go even further and say that we can also confuse getting things done with leading a meaningful life, or even achieving goals and living a well-lived life.

David Lose: Social Capital and Courage in a Brave New World

Tuesday April 14, 2015
I’ve suggested on countless occasions in multiple venues that we live in a liminal time, a transition time, a time when major paradigms are shifting and change is the only constant. Which means that business as usual just won’t cut it.

David Lose: Is Biblical Marriage a "House of Cards"?

Sunday March 15, 2015
When a friend of mine who is an Old Testament scholar gets asked by congregations to offer an adult study on "biblical marriage," his reply is regularly and succinctly the same: "You actually don't want me to do that." He knows, you see, that such requests usually come from more conservative congregations who hope and expect him to confirm their views about marriage.

David Lose: The Nine-Dot Puzzle and Unnecessary Limitations

Friday February 27, 2015
In any endeavor you attempt, there are always limitations. Sometimes there are the limitations of the context and circumstances, sometimes of the actors. But there are always limitations. Which isn’t always a bad thing.

David Lose: Why I Love "The Walking Dead"

Sunday February 15, 2015
The kinds of questions I find myself thinking about after watching The Walking Dead, in short, are the kinds of questions good art always raises, and the kind I wish I heard raised a little more often at church.

David Lose: What do you want from a sermon?

Thursday January 29, 2015
What do you want, hope for, and especially need to hear on Sunday morning? What might a preacher do – and I realize worship is way more than preaching but I want to focus on the sermon just now – to help connect you more deeply to God and to God’s world? What can be said or done on Sunday morning that will enrich your spiritual life? I’d really like to know.

David Lose: Fully Human, Fully Divine

Thursday January 15, 2015
This past week while traveling, I started reading James Carroll’s Christ Actually: The Son of God for the Secular Age.

David Lose: Law, Gospel and Participatory Preaching

Saturday January 10, 2015
Is inviting people to practice sharing their faith law and, if so, where is the Gospel? I ask this kind of question myself all the time. But to help you ask and answer it with me, I’ll offer a little bit of background.

David Lose: Is 'Faith' a Noun or Verb?

Thursday December 11, 2014
Recently I had a chance to reconnect with several former students while teaching in Minot, ND. One reminded me of a distinction I’d made some years earlier and, more importantly, shared with me the impact it was having on some of the young families in his congregation. The distinction was simple (and one no doubt I’d borrowed from others!): Is 'faith' a noun or verb?

David Lose: Congregational Decline: A Terrifying Thought, An Emboldening Thought

Wednesday October 29, 2014
What’s nerve-wracking is that it can feel, at times, like we don’t know how to respond faithfully to the challenges of this age. (Because at times we don’t!) But when we admit that, we can stop faking it or fretting about it and get to work, confident of the power of the Spirit to continue revealing to us all truth.

David Lose: What Do We Talk About at Church?

Wednesday October 22, 2014
Beyond the hit-and-miss conversations around coffee hour, do we talk about any of the things that really matter to us in church? And if we don’t, what do we talk about? Budgets, who’s going to teach Sunday school, carpet color, what?

David Lose: The Power of Trusting Our Colleagues

Sunday October 05, 2014
Of the various subjects I’m asked to teach or present on at various gatherings and conferences, the one that is most frequently requested is about the massive amount of cultural change we have experienced in recent decades and the implications of that for our lives in the Church.

David Lose: Do We Miss Hell?

Thursday September 18, 2014
Every once in a while when I served as a parish pastor, I would joke with colleagues or parishioners that stewardship would be a lot easier had it not been for Martin Luther. When they gave me a slightly confused look, I would say that I just thought it would be easier to raise money if I could threaten my people with hell, or at least with purgatory, rather than assure them they were justified by faith rather than their good works.

David Lose: Do You Feel Called? Part 2

Sunday September 14, 2014
In this post, three observations I have about vocation in relation to the comments, emails, and dozens of conversations I’ve been privileged to have with folks over the years about their sense of calling.

David Lose: Do You Feel Called?

Friday September 05, 2014
Do you feel called? Two things prompt this question...

David Lose: What Role Does the Church Play in Our Lives?

Thursday August 28, 2014
Given how many other groups and movements legitimately lay claim to our allegiance today, can the Church ever expect to exert the level of influence in our lives that it once did?

David Lose: Practicing Generosity

Thursday August 14, 2014
Christians know a secret about generosity. Generosity is not the fruit of success or happiness or security. It is, instead, the source of all these things.

David Lose: The Rise of the Introvert

Saturday July 19, 2014
We live in a world that seems tailored to extroverts. As a result, introverts – essentially people who recharge and find energy from more solitary and contemplative pursuits rather than by interacting with groups of others – often feel overlooked and undervalued.

David Lose: Church and the World Cup

Saturday June 28, 2014
Even as I watch the World Cup with 25 million other U.S. soccer enthusiasts, taking delight in what many are describing as one of the most thrilling World Cup’s in years, I continue to wonder why soccer has taken so long to grab a permanent place in the hearts of American sports fans.

David Lose: Secular Parables: Solsbury Hill

Tuesday May 20, 2014
We might call a secular parable an unlooked for, or even surprising, truth. Or maybe it's truth from an unexpected source. Readers of the Bible should be ready for this. If God can speak through a donkey (Numbers 22), after all, why not through an artist or poet or musician or comedian or…?

David Lose: Changing Together

Sunday May 18, 2014
One of the really interesting side discoveries of the research we did as part of the Vibrant Congregations Project is that it’s really hard to change alone.

David Lose: We Go to Church to Be Changed

Tuesday May 13, 2014
We don’t go to artists, educators, therapists – and here is where I would add 'and preachers' – to remain the same. We go to church because we want to change.

David Lose: On Sin, Sinners, And Going to Church

Tuesday April 08, 2014
I sometimes think we’ve fallen into a theology of lack and inadequacy when we are called to a theology of abundance and empowerment.

David Lose: Preaching & Hymn Writing

Friday April 04, 2014
A faithful reader sent me the following tips for writing a successful hymn from Stuart Townsend, one of the more prolific hymn writers of our age.

David Lose: Why Do You Go to Church?

Sunday March 30, 2014
I’ve asked this question at least once in a sermon in every church I’ve served. Why do we go to Church? I think it’s an incredibly important question right now because there are, quite frankly, so many other options on a Sunday morning – far more than when I was a kid and multiples more than when my parents were children.

David Lose: The Risk of Not Changing

Friday March 21, 2014
You know the stats. The mainline church in North America has lost significant numbers of members over the last several decades. The ELCA alone suffered a 20% loss over the last fifteen years. This isn’t news. What is news – or what should be – is how little we’re doing about it.

David Lose: Lent: Who Needs It?

Friday March 14, 2014
Lent. Among many Christian congregations it’s become something of a dirty, four-letter word. To start, many churches no longer observe this age-old (fourth century!) tradition ”” it’s too old-fashion, too 'Roman,' too medieval for many denominations in America to handle.

David Lose: Adaptive and Technical Change

Saturday March 01, 2014
After a few emails and comments, I realized that I could have been much clearer on the difference between transformation and tweaking things. One question in particular was most helpful and ran, in several forms, something like this: Isn’t there a time for tweaking? Or, can tweaking things prepare for transformation. In short, the reply to the former is 'absolutely,' while the reply to the latter is 'rarely.'

David Lose: Transformed or Tweaked?

Thursday February 27, 2014
Everyone wants transformational change. Congregations, the church at large, companies, public schools, the government, colleges and seminaries… The list could go on. Two reasons, I think, explain this desire.

David Lose: The Relational Pastor: A Review

Friday February 21, 2014
Describing Christian ministry as 'relational' is not new. Since at least the 1970s, church leaders and authors have been inviting us to more relational ministry. But what kind of relationship did this paradigm assume? That’s the very important question that Andrew Root asks at the outset of his new book, The Relational Pastor: Sharing in Christ by Sharing Ourselves.

David Lose: Silver Linings Playbook and the Art of Being Human

Thursday February 06, 2014
To be a person, my friend Andy Root says in his wonderful new book The Relational Pastor, is to be broken. Most of us probably don’t like the sound of that too much, but there is surprising power and freedom in admitting it’s true.

David Lose: Preaching at the Crossroads: The Interactive Sermon II: Web 2.0

Thursday January 30, 2014
Fourth of 4 excerpts from David Lose's new book, 'Preaching at the Crossroads': One major problem facing Christians in the twenty-first century is an overwhelming plethora of sources from which to construct religious identity, none of which hold a privileged place. This captures in a nutshell the reality of living in a postmodern, secular, and pluralistic world.

David Lose: Preaching at the Crossroads: The Interactive Sermon I: Preaching Upstream

Thursday January 23, 2014
Third of 4 excerpts from David Lose's new book, 'Preaching at the Crossroads': Here’s what you know: Mainline traditions have been in decline for the better part of the last half-century and have accordingly lost significant influence in North American culture. During this same period, conservative and evangelical Protestant traditions have grown. Here’s what you may not know: Recent research suggests these two trends are not causally linked

David Lose: Preaching at the Crossroads: Postmodernism and the Bible II: Reading Scripture from the Center

Thursday January 16, 2014
Second of 4 excerpts from David Lose's new book, 'Preaching at the Crossroads': Many problems in preaching in a postmodern age arise from the historical demand (whether modern or premodern) for absolute certainty about the accuracy of one’s interpretation. Such certainty was usually acquired through an extreme confidence in either the divine nature of Scripture or the self-evident character of one’s hermeneutic (or both!).

David Lose: Preaching at the Crossroads: Postmodernism and the Bible I: Their Importance for Preaching

Thursday January 09, 2014
First of 4 excerpts from David Lose's new book, 'Preaching at the Crossroads': Postmodernity at its best stands against modernity’s penchant to quash dissenting voices in its relentless quest for order, stability, unity, and certainty. At its worst, postmodernity loses all confidence in any truth or conviction beyond its own pessimistic views on the absence of truth and the futility of conviction.

David Lose: Worship and the Work of the People

Wednesday November 20, 2013
Put most simply, liturgy is making concrete the faith of the Church. Thus, worship is the proper and primary work of the church.

David Lose: On Hope

Wednesday November 13, 2013
It took me a little while to figure out what I liked so much about this commercial from All State. And, truthfully, I didn’t just like it, I found it peculiarly moving.

David Lose: Oprah, Atheists, and the Gift of Ambiguity

Wednesday November 06, 2013
Yes, you can be well-intentioned and still do harm. That, at least, is what television personality and media mogul Oprah Winfrey learned when she apparently and good-naturedly dismissed Diana Nyad's claim to being an atheist.

David Lose: Gravity

Saturday November 02, 2013
From the very start of the film Gravity you are aware of two elements of space that we probably know but don’t often think about: 1) the sheer size of outer space and, by extension, the universe, and 2) the utter silence of space. Both of these elements are brought to vivid expression by filmmaker Alfonso CuarÃ³n and serve to elicit one emotional reaction in particular: loneliness.

David Lose: Parenting: On Grit

Friday October 25, 2013
In his influential and very helpful book, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, Paul Tough deploys a great deal of such research to make the case that children not only need to develop grit, but that they do so best by facing and overcoming challenges.

David Lose: Does the Universe Have a Purpose?

Saturday October 12, 2013
For the better part of the last year, I’ve been working on a book with a young man who grew up in a Lutheran home but now identifies as an atheist. The book is intended to be a dialogue, to explore what we each believe, why, how we came to those beliefs, and how we bridge our differences in an increasingly pluralistic world.

David Lose: Is Faith a Choice? A Review of Prometheus

Tuesday October 08, 2013
Prometheus, directed by Ridley Scott, ws released in the summer of 2012 to great anticipation. For those who haven’t seen the film – now available on DVD or instant download – Prometheus is a part science-fiction, part mystery, part horror film.

David Lose: Faith and Ethnicity

Wednesday October 02, 2013
Can we be more than an ethnic church? That’s the question I’ve been pondering since reading an article in the Star Tribune about the loss of ethnic identity in Minnesota.

David Lose: The Gospel According to "Game of Thrones"

Friday June 14, 2013
David Gibson of the Religious News Service recently asked what I take to be an intentionally provocative question: Can a Christian watch A Game of Thrones? My short answer: certain kinds of Christians can, while others most definitely should not.

Dr. David Lose: The Hard Work of Creativity

Friday June 07, 2013
In an interview, Ira Glass makes an observation that is as important as it is easy to overlook: our vision often far exceeds our ability. What to make of that? That it will take time – sometimes years – for your abilities to catch up with your dreams.

David Lose: Pope Francis and the New Pluralism

Monday June 03, 2013
Pope Francis made waves when he suggested -- OK, he more than suggested, he said -- in a sermon recently that Jesus Christ redeems all: those who are Roman Catholic and those who are not. Those who believe, and those who don't. Christians, atheists, the whole kit and caboodle.

David Lose: If This Is Your Picture of Evangelism...

Thursday May 16, 2013
There’s an old joke that, while it names Lutherans, I suspect could be applied to most mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics: Q: What do you get when you cross a Lutheran with a Seventh Day Adventist? A: Someone who goes door-to-door but has no idea what to say!

David Lose: Are You Facing a Problem or a Mystery?

Tuesday May 14, 2013
In church leadership, sometimes the challenge in front of us is not a problem, but a mystery.

David Lose: Reading and Sharing a More Useful Bible

Wednesday May 08, 2013
I found the following video fascinating. It’s not that the content is all that incredible – it’s essentially a simple retelling of the story of Jesus’ encounter with Mary and Martha followed by a brief interpretation of why this story is important to the narrator.

David Lose: Mr. Rogers' Advice to Parents after Tragedy

Thursday April 25, 2013
Fred Rogers was a regular and important part of my childhood and continues, well after his death, to continue to serve as an inspiration. Recently the Huffington Post re-ran a picture of “Mr. Rogers” with some advice his mother gave him on how to cope with tragedy. Many have found it helpful as they think about how to talk with their children about tragedy.

Dr. David Lose: Preaching on Mental Illness

Friday April 19, 2013
When is the last time you heard a sermon on depression? Or for that matter heard anything about depression or other mental illnesses even mentioned in a sermon?

David Lose: Why Don't We Read the Bible More?

Sunday April 14, 2013
I found the results of a recent poll about patterns of reading the Bible fascinating, discouraging, and not unexpected all at the same time.

David Lose: Leadership and the Preferred Future

Sunday March 24, 2013
Leadership is about the future. It’s that simple…and that difficult.

David Lose: Creativity and the Critic

Monday March 04, 2013
Do you ever wish that annoying colleague or friend who always wants to 'improve' your ideas would just go away? You know the one I mean, he (or she) isn’t mean spirited or particularly unkind, just always a bit critical.

David Lose: Downton Abbey and Cultural Christianity

Friday February 22, 2013
I’ve found Downton Abbey has prompted me to think about the place and nature of the church. There’s been a fair amount written of late about the role of faith – or really the absence of faith – in the show.

David Lose: What Is Prayer? Continued

Sunday February 17, 2013
So…five things I learned about prayer from you all that I wanted to share.

Dr. David Lose: What Is Prayer?

Monday February 11, 2013
What is prayer? How does it work? What do we imagine we are doing when we engage in it? If we’re not praying, why not?

David Lose: Does Lent Still Matter?

Saturday February 09, 2013
From the earliest time of the church, Lent has been a time for instruction in the faith. In fact, the season began as a time for those who wished to join the Christian faith to enter into a particularly focused time of reflection, penitence, and study before committing themselves to Christ at the Easter vigil service. Indeed, the rest of the church year grew out of and around this season of preparation.

David Lose: Generosity and Happiness

Monday February 04, 2013
If all this stuff about the power of giving money away is true – and we know that by our faith tradition, experience, and research – why do we keep talking about it in terms of money? I mean, aren’t we really just talking about generosity?

David Lose: Vulnerable God, Vulnerable Church

Saturday January 26, 2013
Vulnerability is a big theme with me – in life, in relationships, in theology. It’s one of the reasons I’m such a big fan of BrenÃ© Brown. In her TED Talks on vulnerability and shame, and in books like Daring Greatly and The Gifts of Imperfection, she writes candidly and movingly about the importance of being vulnerable and the challenges to doing so.

Dr. David Lose: What Is Baptism?

Saturday January 19, 2013
First truth: We confess that baptism is the pivotal event in the life of a Christian. Second truth: Most of us have no memory of our baptism, no clear idea of what it means or why it’s important, and no active sense of how it might shape our daily lives.

David Lose: James Bond and the Gospels

Monday December 24, 2012
I should probably admit up front that I’ve been a huge James Bond fan ever since my older brother took me to see Live and Let Die at the age of nine. (I’m still not sure if my parents ever knew that.) So recently I caught the latest Bond flick, Skyfall.

Dr. David Lose: What Will You See?

Monday December 10, 2012
You’ve probably caught the online sensation photo of a NYPD officer putting a pair of socks and boots on the feet of a homeless man on a cold night earlier this month.

David Lose: Early Christmas Carols and the Secret of Happiness

Saturday November 24, 2012
I have a confession to make: I started listening to Christmas Carols in earnest three weeks ago.

Dr. David Lose: Theology as Conversation

Thursday November 15, 2012
At its best, the church invites us to continue that conversation, not by silencing earlier voices or being silenced by them, but rather by adding our own voices.

Dr. David Lose: Enchanted

Saturday October 27, 2012
What difference would it make to my preaching, or reading the Bible in church, or reading it to my kids, or talking about it with a friend if I approached the Bible both longing and expecting to be enchanted?

Dr. David Lose: The Vulnerable God

Sunday October 21, 2012
How do you picture God? I know that might sound like an odd question, but I have this hunch we all carry around a picture of God inside of us. On most days we might not even notice it’s there, but what that picture looks like greatly shapes not just our faith but also our outlook on life, our relationships with others, our friendships and parenting and all the rest.

Dr. David Lose: Preaching the Questions and Exclamations of Life

Monday October 15, 2012
Sometimes things fall together better than you could have ever hoped. One of those things at this year’s Celebration of Biblical Preaching was the juxtaposition of Tony Jones and Michael Curry.

Dr. David Lose: The Bible and Homosexuality (Updated)

Saturday October 13, 2012
I have been regularly surprised by how little Christians seem to know about what the Bible actually says about homosexuality. For this reason, and in light of ongoing conversations and the impending votes in my own state and others, I’ve decided to post on this topic.

David Lose: On Risk and Reward

Friday October 05, 2012
It’s tempting to want to play it safe, not change until you absolutely have to. Whether you’re a parent, a CEO, head of a division, or pastor, the conventional wisdom is clear: don’t fix what ain’t broke.

David Lose: What the Bible Says About Women

Sunday September 30, 2012
The Bible is notoriously hard on women. From seemingly attributing humanity's fall into temptation to Eve in the beginning of the Old Testament to barring women from certain leadership positions late in the New, the Bible is shaped through and through by the patriarchal culture from which is sprang.

David Lose: Renew 52 Now Available!

Friday September 28, 2012
Concerned about the decline of many of our congregations and the larger Church? Dismayed by smaller attendance on Sunday mornings? Worried that your children or friends don’t seem interested in their faith? Well, now there’s something you can do about it!

Dr. David Lose: RIF, not RIP

Thursday September 13, 2012
Among my very favorite days of the school year as a child were RIF days. You might remember them, too. RIF stands for Reading is Fundamental, a program with a 55+ year history of providing books to children for free. But today the program is in trouble.

David Lose: Heresy and Creativity

Saturday August 18, 2012
By and large, I’m a pretty orthodox guy. I like to play by the rules and, middle-child that I am, typically try to keep everyone happy. But…

David Lose: Vocation and "The Mosaic Man"

Saturday August 11, 2012
I’m a huge fan of the Christian concept of vocation: that God calls each and all of us to serve God by serving our neighbor in whatever roles we may have. So whether you’re working or volunteering or a parent or sibling or student or friend or citizen – whatever role you have you can serve God by serving others.

Dr. David Lose: The Burning House

Tuesday July 31, 2012
There is a huge difference, I’ve found, between “thinking” or “talking” about something and “doing” something. That’s certainly true with our talk about the relationship between our happiness and our stuff.

Dr. David Lose: Does Your Sermon Bleed?

Thursday July 26, 2012
Somewhere along the way of my early career in ministry, it dawned on me that the central task of preaching is simply to tell the truth. Actually, to tell the truth twice.

Dr. David Lose: Does Confirmation Still Matter?

Saturday July 21, 2012
I know this seems like a heretical question, especially for those of us who teach confirmation but also, I suspect, for any of us who went through it. It is, after all, perhaps the most significant religious right of passage in mainline Christianity.

Dr. David Lose: Kids and Incentives

Thursday July 12, 2012
If there is one element of parenting that I have consistently found confusing it’s the role of incentives in a child’s life. That is, should we set up concrete and clear goals and rewards for our children? And, if so, when do we offer incentives, for what kinds of activities, and how much?

Dr. David Lose: 5 Reasons Denominations Are Passe

Thursday June 28, 2012
With some caveats, here are my five chief reasons I not only think the day of denominations has passed but also can’t seem to find it in me to shed many tears about it.

Dr. David Lose: The Happiness Delusion

Saturday June 23, 2012
Earlier this spring I read, and very much enjoyed, Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness. Despite what the title might sound like, it’s not a self-help book. And, to tell you the truth, it’s not really about happiness. It’s actually about what makes us unhappy.

Dr. David Lose: Will Churches Go the Way of Bookstores?

Tuesday June 12, 2012
When I read an article by Seth Godin on the woes of book publishers recently, I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between the situation he describes and the challenges facing our congregations.

David Lose: The Church Is Not Apple, But...

Sunday June 03, 2012
The Church is not Apple. I know that. I wasn’t trying to suggest it was with my recent riff on Guy Kawasaki’s post about learning from the Apple store. But...

Dr. David Lose: 10 Things Churches Can Learn from the Apple Store

Tuesday May 22, 2012
Both retail stores and churches care about the people who walk in their doors and should give attention to the kind of experience they want those people to have. So noting that the two aren’t the same, we still might learn from one to help us do the other more faithfully.

Dr. David Lose: Postmodern Church

Tuesday May 08, 2012
What is postmodernism? Obviously, no single post can describe it. But one way to think about it is to recognize that we no longer live in a time or culture where there is a single agree-upon version of, or story about, reality.

Dr. David Lose: Music, Passion, and Leadership

Thursday April 26, 2012
There are so many things I love about this TEDTalk by Benjamin Zander that it’s hard to list them all. He’s talking about music – and he does that very effectively – but he’s also talking about so much more. I think he’s talking about what it means to be a leader and, perhaps most expansively, about what it means to be human.

David Lose: Grace Isn't Pretty

Sunday April 22, 2012
I’ve often thought that before the good news is good news, it’s bad news. Why? Because it’s so totally what we don’t expect. We expect fair, and we get generous. We expect justice, and we get mercy. We expect “getting what you deserve,” and we get grace.

Dr. David Lose: "I Don't Know," Part 2

Wednesday April 04, 2012
One of the great challenges in reclaiming the power of saying “I don’t know” and avoiding the pitfalls mentioned in the last post – namely, giving bad information and limiting your ability to learn – is our current conception of intelligence. We tend to measure our intelligence – or, more commonly, how smart we are – in terms of what we know.

Dr. David Lose: The Power of "I Don't Know"

Thursday March 29, 2012
We have, I think, a cultural bias against admitting what we don’t know. It’s as if by admitting our ignorance in a particular subject we undermine our credibility on any subject. I find this particularly true of leaders – whether in a church, corporation, faculty, or family.

Dr. David Lose: The Problem with Popular

Saturday March 24, 2012
Why are the popular kids usually mean? It’s good question. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s because the very category of “popular” demands exclusion in the first place. I mean, if there aren’t unpopular kids, how can there be popular ones?

Dr. David Lose: Who Shovels Your Kids' Rink?

Sunday March 11, 2012
Do you ever worry your kids have too much? How have you striven to parent well without over-parenting? And – perhaps most importantly – have you found a couple of other parents to think all this through with. This may be one of the toughest challenges for today’s parents.

Dr. David Lose: Atheists and the F-Word

Thursday February 09, 2012
I'd argue that believing in God -- or not -- is only the first, and perhaps the easiest, element of faith. The rest deals with how one acts in the world as a result of this initial belief.

Dr. David Lose: Is the Bible a reliable moral guide?

Tuesday November 29, 2011
I know, I know: given that I teach, preach and write about the Bible for a living, I'm hardly the kind of person you think would ask this kind of question. But maybe it's precisely because I spend so much time with the Bible that this question occurs to me.

Dr. David Lose: What Does the Bible Really Say About Homosexuality?

Saturday October 15, 2011
Actually, a whole lot less than you might imagine! That may be hard to believe given the fierce rhetoric Christians often employ when talking about homosexuality,

Dr. David Lose: Adam, Eve & the Bible

Thursday August 18, 2011
Did Adam and Eve exist? No. Then again, George Washington didn't cut down a cherry tree, and Paul Revere never yelled, "The British are coming," either.

Dr. David Lose: 4 Good Reasons Not to Read the Bible Literally

Tuesday August 09, 2011
About a third of the American populace takes everything the Bible says at face value, reading as they would a history or science textbook. I don't read the Bible this way, and can't imagine doing so. Here are four reasons why.

David Lose: Where Did the Bible Come From?

Tuesday July 19, 2011
Though the number of theories has grown, the three most popular are sufficiently well defined that we can consider them as we might various options on a multiple-choice quiz. So read carefully and then make your selection.

Is The Bible True?

Wednesday April 06, 2011
Most people - liberals and conservatives alike - tend to evaluate the Bible's veracity based on it's factual accuracy. But what if Bible never sought to be history or science textbook in the first place? By paying attention to what the Bible actually says about itself, we might be in a better position to appreciate in what way it is true.

John 3:16, Like It Or Not!

Sunday March 20, 2011
At the heart of John 3:16, the world's most famous Bible verse, is a message about God's scandalous, even offensive, love for the world.

No One Has Seen God

Thursday December 30, 2010
When St. John writes that "no one has ever seen" God, he puts his finger on one of the most painful aspects of Christian faith. But John doesn't stop here, and his unique "Christmas story" gives us faith and hope as we enter a new year!

Advent 2 - Matthew's Problem with John

Tuesday November 30, 2010
How does Matthew's distinctive witness to John the Baptist shape our understanding both of John and of Jesus?

Bible as Divine Reference Book, Pt. 2 (Just for Fun!)

Saturday September 12, 2009
Stephen Colbert looks at what happens when we revere the Bible more than we read it. When he interviews the sponsor of a bill to post the 10 Commandments in court rooms, Colbert discovers the Congressman only knows 3 of the 10 commandments.

The Bible as Divine Reference Book, Pt. 1

Sunday September 06, 2009
Most Christians say the Bible holds authority in their lives, yet different Christians mean very different things by that. Here is the first of three ways contemporary Christians read and understand the Bible.

Your Questions About the Bible

Sunday August 23, 2009
What do you find curious or confusing about the Bible? Let's hear your questions and join in conversation.

Why Don't People Read the Bible?

Wednesday August 19, 2009
Do you read the Bible? Statistics show that most mainline Christians don't - why? Join the conversation!

Video by The Rev. Dr. David Lose

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