The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

  Putting Lent in Its Proper Place. A Homily for Ash Wednesday February 18, 2026 By Kelly Liebengood Lent is dangerous if we do not put it in its proper place! If we do not engage this season within its larger context, we run the risk of either agitating our propensity toward self-absorption and/or self-loathing; or even worse, developing a confidence that we have achieved God’s favor through performance. So, putting Lent in its proper context is critical if we are going to benefit from it. That is to say, if we are going to be healed, if we are going to mature, if we are going to be more conformed to Jesus and what he wants for us during this season, we will need to grow into what Jesus knows about us; we will need to embrace what is most true about us. And what does Jesus know about us? What is it that is most true about us? That before we are anything else, we are first loved. Before we are sinners; before we totally depraved; before we were in need of forgiveness and redemption...

First Loved. A Message for Biblical Studies, Theology, and Christian Ministry Majors Academic Chapel September 5, 2025 Kelly D. Liebengood, Ph.D. Dean, School of Theology and Vocation Scripture Reading “Beloved,...”  (Pet 2:11; 4:12; 2 Pet 3:1, 8, 14, 3:17; 1 John 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11; Jude 1, 3, 17, 20; see also Heb 6;9; Eph 1:6; 5:1; Col 3:2; 2 Thess 2:13.) Proclamation  There’s a word in the New Testament that is too often treated as a throwaway, a pleasantry that serves to fill the awkward space as the author transitions from one idea to another. The word, as you may have guessed from our Scripture reading, is beloved.  The word is particularly prominent in key rhetorical moments in the Catholic Epistles (James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude; see references in note 1). And at the center of the Catholic Epistles is a reminder that Jesus is the beloved, the one who has always been loved, and who in turn loves as an extension of his belovedness (2 Pet 1:16-21). We learn...

Each new academic year, approximately 20 million students will attend college in the United States. The demographics reveal that these students are as diverse as they have ever been. And yet, even though these 20 million students bring with them as many different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, they nevertheless all share one thing in common: they all come to college to find their place in this world. This quest to find one’s place in the world comes in the form of a number of different questions that students ask as they step onto the college campus: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the point of life? Is there a point to life? Do I belong? Where do I belong here? Who are my people? What am I going to do for a living? Who will I marry? (Will I ever marry?) Who will my friends be? (Will I make any friends?). In other words, each year students come on to our campus seeking to discern three inter-related themes: identity, purpose, and belonging. This is part of what makes the...

Recently I was asked to speak at the national conference for the Association for Christians in Student Development (ACSD). The organizers asked me to give a theological account for the work of student development and to show how the themes of the conference connected to the good work of student life. Here is the third  installment of the six talks I gave on June 10-13.  Session 3          The Good Work of Reconciliation   Good morning. I hope the past two days have been encouraging for you; that you have a renewed sense of purpose and value in what you do; that you’ve been able to connect with your people, and perhaps even meet new people; and that you’ve had rich fellowship with God, and   have sensed God’s comfort and direction in your life. Lectio Divina: Jeremiah 9.24 Over the past two days, we’ve been thinking about how our work is connected to the work of another—that of Jesus Christ, who has gathered us and called us t...

  Recently I was asked to speak at the national conference for the Association for Christians in Student Development (ACSD). The organizers asked me to give a theological account for the work of student development and to show how the themes of the conference connected to the good work of student life. Here is the second  installment of the six talks I gave on June 10-13.  Session Two: The Good Work of Paying Attention   Lectio Divina: John 17.24-26: hear this as God’s word to you as we listen in on the motive of Jesus’ work that he has been sent to accomplish.   All of our work is to be oriented around the good work of another—Jesus Christ—who is at the right hand of the Father, where he continues the work he was sent to accomplish by empowering us through the Spirit to join him in what he is up to in the world.  Y esterday, I gave you three snapshots in the NT, which point us to this foundational calling (the overarching narrative of the Gospels-...

  American pastors are abandoning their posts, left and right, and at an alarming rate. They are not leaving their churches and getting other jobs. Congregations still pay their salaries. Their names remain on the church stationary and they continue to appear in pulpits on Sundays. But they are abandoning their posts, their calling . They have gone whoring after other gods. What the do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t the remotest connection with what the church’s pastors have done for most of twenty centuries… The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns—how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money. Some of them are very good shopkeepers. They attract a lot of customers, pull in great sums of money, develop splendid reputati...

Why Healthy Churches Engage in Conflict Resolution In his essay “The Pattern of Life in Thriving Communities,”   biblical scholar Kavin Rowe makes the observation that one particular (and perhaps unexpected) characteristic of a healthy church is its willingness to engage in a process of disagreement and reconciliation when conflict arises. He draws this conclusion from a careful reading of the Book of Acts, where time and again we see Spirit-led communities patiently and courageously resolving conflict with one another as a practice that is integral to their calling as faithful disciples of Jesus (for example Acts 6, Acts 10-12, Acts 15, Acts 20).  This may seem counterintuitive at first. One might expect, for example, that Spirit-led communities would avoid conflict altogether. But this is not the case. Instead, what we see in the Book of Acts is also evident in the letters of Paul and Peter, and in the writings of James and John.  Conflict is inevitable, even within...

For Paul, faithful pastoral leadership in the church is essential for the life of a community and its faithful witness to all that gospel allegiance entails. For this reason, he left Titus in Crete (presumably after they had engaged in proclaiming the gospel there) to appoint elders, who would be able to guide, teach,  and correct disciples in the way of Jesus (Titus 1.5-9; 2.1).  But both Paul and Titus are faced with a daunting challenge. How will they find leaders among the Cretans who will be up for the task? A quick survey of the letter reveals that there is a culture in Crete that seems antithetical to the kind of culture Titus seeks to shape in the church. 'There are many," Paul says, "who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers (Titus 1.10)." He even quotes from a Cretan prophet and poet who remarked that "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons" to characterize the context in which Titus is called to minister (Titus 1.12).  Appa...

What is salvation for? It is not hard to lose the forest for the trees in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. The letter opens with some very complex themes that, because they meet us first, tend to occupy most of our attention and interest as we come to the letter for guidance and edification: election (1.4), predestination (1.5), adoption (1.5),  redemption (1.5), inheritance (1.11), salvation (1.13), the role of the Spirit, to name a few.  As important as all of those themes are (and they are indeed foundational), its seems to me that part of what Paul is doing in his letter to the Ephesians is trying to get his readers to ask the question, What is this (election, adoption, redemption, salvation)  all for?  What are we chosen for ? What are we predestined for ? What are we adopted for ? Why have we been redeemed? And how does this all reveal God's glory and grace? Those who have been shaped by the Reformed tradition will likely respond that all of this--election, pred...