Free Stuff
My sheet music and other free resources are available here. Just follow this link.
These things are under a Creative Commons license that allows you to download them and copy them freely—for any non-commercial use.
Enjoy!
Store
I have books, CDs, and a video series for sale from my store page. (I wish I could just give everything away, but one must eat!)
I’m especially excited about my new book, now available: My Burden Is Light: A Pastor’s Plea for Rationality, Honesty, and Humility.
About
Merry, Mystical Missives
Here you’ll find everything I’ve sent out to the mailing list for The Merry Mystic.
Videos for the Inn of God’s Forgiveness
Hello, friends! This month, I’ve been thinking about my book, The Inn of God’s Forgiveness. I have an idea, and I’d like to get your thoughts about it.
It seems to me that The Inn of God’s Forgiveness would be ideal for use in an adult study group in a progressive church. It’s a small book and modestly priced. It presents progressive (and sometimes provocative) theological ideas in a good-humored and accessible way. It’s divided into eight chapters, which would fit a one-chapter-a-week structure quite neatly. And it has a built-in activity for each chapter, because each chapter introduces a new hymn. A study group could look at each hymn, give it a try, and then perhaps decide whether to bring it to the wider church.
What the book hasn’t had, until now, is video content to go with it. My idea is that it would be useful to have a video to go with each chapter, so that a class leader could simply show the video and then lead the discussion (and singing).
I’ve made a draft of a video to go with the first chapter. It’s longer than the usual five-to-ten-minute Merry Mystic missive: it’ll be about forty minutes, including the singing, leaving twenty minutes for discussion in a one-hour class. This draft has a few defects, and the video is grainy in places, but it’ll give you an idea of what I’m suggesting. (And I’m a bit proud of it, in spite of the defects!)
So please: have a look, and let me know your thoughts. Is it useful to you? Would a full video series like this be useful to you, or to others? What would you like to see in the final version? If I make a series like this, how should I deliver it, and how much should I charge for it? (Alas, I don’t think I could give something like this away; just making a draft of the video for the first chapter took a ridiculous number of hours.)
[youtube id=pV-47gb4kRA]
Come, O People
I write a lot of music, and often, it’s humorous and irreverent. But one can’t be sassy all the time; that would just be annoying.
Today, I have something serious to share with you: some liturgical music I wrote and used in my church during Lent. It’s a processional, arranged for cantor and choir. (The choir part consists of three simple parts, so it’s undemanding—unless the choir also has to stomp and clap as they process!)
[youtube id=BEUKjX8F144]
The sheet music for “Come, O People” is available here, in our Free Stuff area.
The Perfect POTUS
Hello, friends! Today was Trinity Sunday at church, and I did my best with a sermon. Maybe I’ll share it with you, one of these days. I did my best to keep it light. But, damn: it’s still a pretty heavy topic, theologically speaking!
After that, I was in need of an antidote: a little silliness. And here it is: in honor of the forthcoming Democratic presidential debates, an advertisement a la Mary Poppins. Wanted: a president for fifty adorable states…
[youtube id=1DDYudAvuzY]
Something New in the Store
Hello, friends!
I’ve written a considerable variety of things over the years: some computer science journal articles, a couple of textbooks, a book of theological essays with new hymns, a dozen more new hymns after that, dozens of videos for The Merry Mystic, and two CDs of original music—plus, of course, a few hundred sermons. But you know what I’ve enjoyed writing the most? Fantasy romance.
Yes, really.
I’ve just published a book called The Pastor and the Priestess. It’s a feel-good story about a small-town pastor and a Wiccan priestess who find magic and romance while facing a deadly series of hate crimes. Hah! I’m grinning ear to ear just typing that description. It’s available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. If it sounds like something you’d enjoy, please give it a try. And if you do enjoy it, please share a review on Amazon.
You can read more about The Pastor and the Priestess on our Store page.
Thanks and best blessings,
Adam
These are the (mostly video) messages sent out to The Merry Mystic mailing list.
Sermons and Such
Every week, I preach in the Open Prairie United Church of Christ in Princeton, Illinois. I’m not sending most of these out to The Merry Mystic mailing list; but on the outside chance you’d like to see a sermon, here they are.
Service
This is one of the core teachings of Jesus: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
Honesty
Jesus spoke and lived truly, and taught his followers to do the same.
Universal Solidarity
A teaching of Jesus: solidarity with everyone, excluding no one.
Responding without Violence
A teaching of Jesus: responding to hate, violence, and aggression in a way that makes things better.
Wonder Drug #2: Decentering Money
A teaching of Jesus about money: don’t let it go to your heart!
Wonder Drug #1: Releasing Anxiety
A teaching of Jesus about releasing anxiety, just in time for Election Day here in the USA.
The Humble Stance
What person (or computer program, or mathematical system) can know their own errors?
Energized by Fear
Would you be afraid to wrestle with God? I know I would—but I hope I’d find the nerve to persevere, as Jacob did. (This sermon includes a traditional spiritual, “Changed My Name,” which begins at about 12:30.)
The Elisha Story Cycle
The skeptic in me cautions you that the Second Book of Kings is not, on the whole, a good place to learn about God. The mystic in me rejoices at the same time to point out that God’s voice can reach us from the most unexpected places—even from texts like this one—if are hearts are open. Music soothes the angry prophet!
The Story Breaks
Sometimes, the stories we tell about God are too weak to hold up when life gets hard. When those stories break, it can be traumatic.
This sermon include a song, “I Don’t Believe in You Anymore,” beginning at about 9:55.