Rev Kev

Rev Kev Pastor Kevin Mundell serves Our Saviour's United Church of Christ in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he's been sharing practical faith for everyday life.

04/10/2026

Jesus' whole ministry was correcting the misuse of the Ten Commandments—turning them from I-thou back into what they were meant to be.

Pastor Rev Kev explains: People took the Ten Commandments out of the context of I-thou relationships and turned them into a set of ideas that didn't need God. They used them as tools to control people and behavior, moving into I-it territory where you didn't need meaningful interaction with anyone.

"Thou shalt not steal. I don't steal, therefore I get it right." That's not an I-thou relationship—that's I-it.
Jesus' whole ministry was bringing people back to seeing the Ten Commandments within I-thou relationships. 💬

04/09/2026

Pastor Rev Kev introduces Martin Buber's philosophy of relationships: I-thou and I-it.

In an I-thou relationship, two people come together—they both share, they both give, they both receive. There's an uncontrollableness to the interaction where both can be changed in meaningful ways.
The I-it relationship becomes one where we try to control it. Instead of two people interacting freely, it becomes a limited interaction.

Which kind of relationships are you building? 💬
In an I-thou relationship, two people come together—they both share, they both give, they both receive. There's an uncontrollability to the interaction where both can be changed in meaningful ways.

04/08/2026

We do this without thinking. Sometimes we get together with a friend, but we use them to relieve stress—never creating space for something meaningful to happen. We use them as a distraction, and it becomes a controlled interaction, not a true I-thou relationship.

Pastor Rev Kev explores Martin Buber's understanding of the Ten Commandments as a framework for I-thou relationships—moments of uncontrollable, meaningful connection with a living God, living self, and living neighbors.

Are you creating space for real connection, or just using people as distractions? 💬

04/07/2026

The danger of our culture right now is that everything always needs to be growing. And if it's got to be growing, then what do we need to do to make it grow? We start trying to take control of everything we can possibly control.

The whole point of the Ten Commandments is to connect us with God, neighbor, and ourselves in meaningful, loving ways. The whole point of Jesus' ministry is to connect us with God's love and forgiveness so that we can be the loving beings God made us capable of being.

Are your relationships I-thou or I-it? Are you letting people change you, or are you just using them? 💬

02/17/2026

Pastor Rev Kev shares a powerful quote from Walter Brueggemann's "The Prophetic Imagination." Brueggemann, one of the leading Old Testament scholars in North America who recently passed away, wrote:

"A prophet's primary vocation is to keep alive the ministry of imagination, defined more specifically as a commitment to challenge the way it is with the way God says it is, and all this rooted most specifically in the formation of an alternative community, Israel and the church, that stubbornly and joyfully lives out God's order in defiance of the status quo."

This is profound. The prophetic voice isn't about accepting the world as it is—it's about being critical of the ways our culture doesn't reflect who God is. It's about calling us back to God so that we live as an alternative community, stubbornly and joyfully, even while living within whatever culture surrounds us.

How are we living out God's order in defiance of the status quo today? 💬

02/16/2026

We have this critical role to play as Christians, but it's not always about toppling everything, nor is it about sustaining everything. Pastor Rev Kev reminds us that our job is to be critical of everything through the lens of who God is, how God is for us, and how much God loves us.

How do we limit the ways systems take us away from God? How do we build spaces that allow people to encounter God and know God's love? These are the questions we're called to ask.

It's not about revolution or preservation—it's about discernment. It's about creating room for God's presence in a world that constantly pulls us away from it.

How are you building spaces for people to encounter God's love today? 💬
Have a blessed day. Thanks for joining us.

02/15/2026

The time will come when prophets are no longer needed, when people will stop speaking in unknown languages, and when the need for knowledge will fade away. For we only know some of the story and can only prophesy small parts of it, but the time is coming when we will know the whole story from beginning to end.

Pastor Rev Kev shares this beautiful reflection on 1 Corinthians 13. Right now, we see through muddy water—our knowledge is full of holes, our understanding is incomplete. We're like children trying to grasp things beyond us.

But when we become fully grown, when we see God face to face, everything will become clear. We will know the Great Spirit as well as we are known by him.

This is the promise we hold onto: One day, the partial will give way to the complete. One day, we'll see clearly. Until then, we walk by faith, trusting that God sees what we cannot yet see.

Are you content with the reflection in muddy water, knowing the clear vision is coming? 💬✨

02/14/2026

We are connected. Connected because we all bear God's image. We are connected because God calls us. We are together because of God's love for us.

Pastor Rev Kev wraps up this series on 1 Corinthians 13 with a powerful reminder: Paul's description of love isn't just poetic—it's what community looks like when we live as God's church. Hopefully this is happening in our families. Hopefully this is happening in our relationships. But this is love being fully lived the way God calls us to live it.

On this Valentine's Day, may we remember that love isn't just about romance—it's about how we show up for each other, how we reflect God's image, and how we live out God's calling in community.
Thanks for joining us. Have a blessed Valentine's Day. May God's love abound in your life. 💕

02/14/2026

I may have the gift of speaking in both languages of human beings and of spirit messengers, but if I fail to love, my words become like the screech of a cat or the yelping of a wild dog.

Pastor Rev Kev brings us this powerful reimagining of 1 Corinthians 13. You may have prophetic powers, the ability to see into sacred mysteries, and understand all things. You might even have faith strong enough to make mountains move. But if you fail to love, you are nothing.

You may give all your possessions to the poor and give your body to be burned as a sacrifice, but if you fail to love, you have gained no honor.

This is a sobering reminder: All the spiritual gifts, all the knowledge, all the sacrifice in the world mean nothing without love. Love is the foundation of everything we do as followers of Christ.

Are we leading with love in all we say and do? 💬💕

02/13/2026

Love is patient and kind. Love is never jealous. It does not brag or boast. It is not puffed up or big-headed.
Pastor Rev Kev walks us through a beautiful reimagining of 1 Corinthians 13—one of the most famous passages on love in the Bible. But this isn't just poetic language; it's a call to action.

Love does not act in shameful ways nor does it care only about itself. It is not hot-headed nor does it keep track of wrongs done to it. Love is not happy with lies and injustice, but truth makes its heart glad.
Love keeps walking even when carrying a heavy load. Love keeps trusting, never loses hope, and stands firm in hard times. The road of love has no end.

This is the kind of love God calls us to—a love that endures, that fights for justice, that refuses to give up. How are you walking the road of love today? 💬💕

02/12/2026

Jesus was critical of everything around him—the social structures, the religious establishment, the economic system, the political powers. But here's what's remarkable: He didn't call for an overthrowing of the Roman Empire or the economic systems of his day.

Instead, Jesus critiqued these systems and provided an alternative path that pointed people toward God. He didn't endorse the broken systems he lived within, but he showed us how to navigate them with an eye toward who God is and how we're called to live that out in what we do and say.

This is the model for us today—not blind endorsement, not violent revolution, but critical engagement that offers a better way forward rooted in God's love.

How can we follow Jesus' example of living within broken systems while pointing toward God's kingdom? 💬

02/11/2026

How do we navigate capitalism, democracy, socialism, entertainment, and all the other systems we engage with daily?

Pastor Rev Kev reminds us that as Christians, we're called to think critically about these human-made systems—holding them at a distance so we can stay focused on God.

When we focus on God, it always comes back to loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We live within these systems, but we don't let them define us. Instead, we create space to live out God's vision, helping others see that God is different—and that God makes us different too.

These systems were made by humans, often to give ourselves glory over God. But when we stay rooted in Christ, we can engage with the world in a way that points back to the kingdom of God.

How are you staying critically engaged while keeping your focus on God? 💬

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343 Scott Street
Ripon, WI
54971

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