Category "Uncategorized"

Michael Hidalgo On The Descent

Brian Dolleman - March 18, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

Our last sermon series at church was called DESCENT. It was one of my favorites – I really loved addressing themes like “honoring doubt,” and “cultivating creativity” and “embracing pain.”

Pastor Michael Hidalgo, in this 2 minute video, does an excellent job of summarizing the path of DESCENT that Jesus leads us on…

You have this person of Jesus who 2,000 years later is still compelling to a western world that’s based on a path of ascent. And yet, He’s reversed that entire thing.

“…that’s the mystery that’s contained in the heart of God and is displayed in the person of Jesus… that death brings life, that losing wins, that being… Read More

Jesus as Compañero by Father G

Brian Dolleman - March 11, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

*the painting is “Christ and His Disciples” by Georges Rouault, 1937

Here’s a 90 second video clip of Father G talking about Jesus as compañero.

In it, he explains, “It’s part of our culture as Jesuits to see Jesus as companion, that we’re walking together.”

And this part is so beautiful…

He enters the place where I’m most terrified and He says, “I will be fearless for you.” And He never co-signs on our fear. He never says, “You have every reason to be frightened.” He says, “I’ll be fearless for you. Let’s go.”

That’s why I stay… Read More

If You Could Stand In Someone Else’s Shoes…

Brian Dolleman - March 6, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

I ran across this on NPR’s On Being website.

If you could stand in someone else’s shoes… Hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently?

These words end this incredibly beautiful video produced by the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.

In the end, it’s about human connection. When we relate to those around us by… Read More

Maybe We’re Addicted To Bad News

Brian Dolleman - February 25, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

I once heard Paul Scanlon say something like this:

A bad report makes it around the track 10 times before a good report gets around once.

Headlines aren’t made with sweet stories of love and peace and harmony, now are they? Maybe we’re addicted to bad news – so addicted that we can’t recognize what’s good, even when it’s sitting right in front of us.

The other day I stumbled across this headline: Today’s Teens Are Better Than You, And We Can Prove It. The article is online – and it’s interactive. You can select the year you were born, and it will compare your generation to this generation on things like drug use, sex, suicide, and weapons.

The bottom line? Today’s teens are better than you.

It’s shocking, I know.

We’ve been given a script and we bought in… Read More

The Me Who Isn’t Performing… Do I Like Him?

Brian Dolleman - February 24, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Acting is all about faking things… —John Cleese

I was watching Jimmy Fallon the other night – and he had a famous starlet / actress / singer on the show. The first few minutes of her interview was OK, but I kept thinking she seemed uncomfortable. At times, her voice was a bit shaky.

Then, they did a fun bit called “Wheel of Musical Impressions” where you spin the dial and it “randomly” gives you a song to sing and an artist to impersonate. For example, Jimmy Fallon got “I’m a Little Tea Pot” in the style of Dave Matthews. His guest got “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in the style of Fetty Wap and “Spongebob Squarepants” in the style of Christina Aguilera.

She nailed it. I mean, she performed with confidence, gusto, soul… it was impressive and funny and attention-grabbing. She is obviously a performer.

Something about the whole interview struck me: there was a notable change in confidence or comfortability with being herself -vs- performing.

She was visibly more comfortable performing.

I’ve noticed this before on late-night show interviews and… Read More

Why I Want These “Feminine” Qualities

Brian Dolleman - February 19, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

*picture above: Coptic Ethiopian painting of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.

I couldn’t resist clicking. The title read, What a Leader Needs Now: 7 ‘Feminine’ Qualities. And here’s what the Inc.com article had to say…

* * * *

Labeling traits as masculine or feminine reflects popular perception rather than evidence-based fact.

But it’s a handy way to think about what works in organizations today. The following qualities, traditionally identified with women, produce results for leaders of… Read More

The Question I Will Keep Asking Over And Over Again

Brian Dolleman - February 10, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. —John Muir

As I’ve shared before, my word for the year is Beautiful. It shows up in my goals…

Make beautiful food. Write beautiful words. Say beautiful things. Dream up beautiful things to do. Go beautiful places. Notice beautiful things and learn from them. Take beautiful pictures. Design beautiful artwork. Think beautiful thoughts. Pray beautiful prayers. Find the beautiful in the unexpected or where it has been previously unnoticed.

So, with goals like these, I will obviously be asking myself this question over and over again: Is it beautiful?

In a recent staff meeting, I shared with the team that I will be asking this question about our church too, “I’ll want to know that what we are doing and saying and giving and making is beautiful. If it’s not beautiful, something needs to change.”

In that meeting, I read some words by… Read More

Shouting But Not About The Super Bowl

Brian Dolleman - February 7, 2016 - Guest Posts, Life With God, Uncategorized

I like to give some shout-outs on Sundays, sharing what I read online during the past week that I just can’t keep to myself.

So today I’m shouting, but not about the Super Bowl (mostly because my beloved Seahawks are taking a year off from participating in it).

Anyway, check out the following…

1. This post by Addie Zierman, Size Up. Here’s my favorite line(s):

“See?” some wise voice says from the deep place of my heart. “You are too old and too awesome to wear things that don’t fit you.”

And it’s about the jeans… and it’s not.

It’s about my body… and it’s not.

It’s about letting go of what doesn’t fit anymore, of who you used to be, of who you thought you might turn into.

(You are too old and too awesome for all that nonsense.)

In the mirror, the reflection you see is not one of… Read More

How A Sermon Becomes A Sermon

Brian Dolleman - February 5, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Obviously this post is not very clickbait-y. Perhaps a couple of my pastor friends will read it (although I think even they are more inclined to only click a link when I’m saying scandalous-sounding things. No worries. Maybe I will require staff members on our church’s teaching team to read this post. Haha, yes, that’s a great idea.

Rather than sharing all the relatively boring things I do in crafting sermons, I thought I’d share a few words from Barbara Brown Taylor.

First, a little about her… she is an Episcopal priest, professor, author, theologian, and is one of the United States’ best known preachers. In 2014, the TIME magazine placed her in its annual TIME 100 list of most influential people in the world. Impressive!

Here’s what she says… Read More

I Have Something To Learn From Old Ladies In Wheelchairs

Brian Dolleman - February 4, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Earlier this week, Shari and I walked around Lake Wilderness together as we do most days. But on this particular day, I came across a scene that captured my thoughts and imagination. I’ve been thinking about it for days – and honestly, I’m not sure why it made such an impression on me.

We saw an elderly woman in a wheelchair at the water’s edge. She looked to be in her 80′s or 90′s. And there was a young woman, maybe 19 or 20 years old, standing behind her – obviously the one who drove the old woman to the park and brought her to the lake.

The old woman was surrounded by happy, loud ducks. She was throwing pieces of bread to them as quickly as she could.

Although I couldn’t see her face, I imagined it to be lit up with a grin and sparkle in her eyes.

The young woman behind her had a… Read More