Associate Pastor at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Husband to Oby Ballinger. Progressive. Math nerd. Gustavus Adolphus College and Yale Divinity School alum.
Exile is an experience that is familiar to many of us. The word of God that came to John in the wilderness is the same word that finds each of us in our wilderness today: Our exile is about to be over. Soon we’ll be on our way back home. … More Your Salvation Is at Hand
Giving thanks is the antidote to worry. Maybe learning to give thanks for our many blessings today can teach us to trust that more blessings lie ahead. … More Worry and Gratitude
New life is not something that lies off in the distant future; it’s available to us now. Even when it feels as though the whole world is under death’s grip, Jesus offers resurrection, today. … More All Saints Sunday: Death Does Not Have the Final Word
Jesus asks us to consider how wealth keeps us disconnected from others and limits our empathy, how it causes us to turn in on ourselves and overlook the plight of our neighbor. What Jesus is calling for is a re-orientation that will be difficult and painful to endure. … More Monopoly, Wealth, and the Corrosion of Our Humanity
Called out on his closed-mindedness and challenged to reconsider his purpose, Jesus is persuaded to adopt a bigger vision for mission that embraces outsiders, strangers, and even enemies. … More Be Opened
