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I used as a resource for crafting this reflective sermon on lament: https://www.anewliturgy.com/no-7-lament  This is a great resource from Aaron Niequist, I've used the Examen liturgy for years now and this is one I will add to the rotation as well for my own personal prayer times.  In my adaptation I used a blank paper with six boxes to respond to the different poems and prayers of lament. I introduce the concept of lament by sharing Psalm 13. I hope that by introducing personal practices of lament in public worship settings we can begin to explore what public lament looks like. Which is the domain of prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. 

Sermon at Franklin Christian Church about grief. 

Hopeful Imagination series continues as we look at the Book of Jeremiah. I really love the video resources available at thebibleproject.com and highly recommend taking a look at their Exile and how to read the Prophets and Biblical poetry videos. 

This was originally shared as a Facebook live video. These Friday reflection podcasts are going to continue being this way.  What's your personal mission statement? Do you have values you want to be known for? What clutter in your life keeps you from being able to focus on creativity and leadership? 

The start of a new series of sermons on the perspective of the Old Testament prophets and psalmists who had in the words of Walter Brueggemann a "Hopeful Imagination." 

This was a Facebook live video of the launch of our Improving Leaders YouTube channel. Learn more about what Improving Leaders is by visiting improving leaders.org 

I've preached this message before for New Years but enjoyed sharing it slightly differently with the Franklin Christian Church. Every year is a new beginning, and probably better for us than resolutions we are going to end up abandoning or feeling like we missed out or failed, what if we chose to consider living our normal routines with intentionality. Perhaps that means adding a new one or two but maybe instead it's just a new way of looking at things we do every day like eating meals together. 

One of the most common New Years resolutions for Christians is to start a "Read the Bible Cover to Cover in a Year" plan. And if you're anything like me getting started was fun, Genesis is captivating with big story arcs like Creation and fascinating stuff about towers, languages, floods, and then familial drama throughout all of Abram's kids and grand kids. But then you get to Leviticus and either get bogged down, skip it, or quit all together. In this recorded sermon for a small rural church I spend the week after Christmas and before New Years to explore the big theme of holiness throughout this very underrated book of the Bible. 

Third and final installment in the advent series at Franklin Christian Church. We talk about the Magi and the idea of presence. 

I've been listening to a lot of perspectives about spiritual deconstruction so I took a chance to review some resources and a book I read about the Bible as Christian Scripture. This may be a little rambl-ly but I hope it may spark some curiosity and questions you might want to explore. 

Sermon at Franklin Christian Church on Dec 13. 

A conversation about honesty.  Apologies for no intro and outro music. I have an issue with my main computer system and haven't resolved it yet. 

Sermon at Franklin Christian Church where I am speaking every Sunday while they wait to formalize a search for a pastor. It's a very small and rural church. I worked with my good friend Jason Swick on the theme and shared ideas back and forth for this mini series on Advent. 

No time like the present to get back into the swing of things. Take a listen for the updates to the Coburn family and also some Advent thoughts I've had.  Hoping to post more frequently. Would love to hear from you and do some Q/A and deal with topics and questions you are interested in! Email me lars@valueaddconversations.com

We come to the end of the 30 day devotional series. I hope it hasn't been a waste of your time, my intention has been that anyone watching these would be able to say "that added value to my life." I hope the intentionality, questions, mentoring, and rhythms I've talked about has done that in some small way. You can find more about Centering Prayer/Contemplative SIT on my blog, link in bio. Stay tuned for some other content regarding my book. You can find the book "Follow the Way" on amazon and my blog. I'll sign the copies from my blog and website - plus it helps me out if you buy direct from me. Thanks so much friends. This has been fun! I'm sure I'll continue doing some videos here and there.

Let's be grateful people. Reviewing our day, week, month, year, season, covid-19 Quarantine with thanksgiving and looking ahead with hope. Check out my blog for my adapted prayer of Examen guide. Link in bio.

You may not be familiar with the Benedictine Monastic Rule, but you probably have some rules you follow about your life. A beautiful metaphor I heard used was that of a trellis or grape arbor. We want our lives to be trained up so they produce good fruit. Check out my blog, link in bio for a more detailed look at rhythms and a way I suggest go about writing your rule of life.

What's one way you can lean into the Creators invitation to have a rhythm of Rest?

What are your rhythms? Music requires a rhythm, a beat to keep time and enable the creativity and beauty of the sound and words to evoke mystery and awe. May our lives have a rhythm to it that points people to say "Thank you God."

We need to adopt the rhythm of saying thank you to the mentors in our lives.