There once was a young boy playing football outside in the street all afternoon in the summertime heat. The streetlights, which stood as end-zone markers, began to glow as the sunlight faded, signaling that it was time to announce, “Next score wins!” to the rag-tag bunch of neighborhood friends. To say that the evening was… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Remembering a Mockingbird
Harper Lee never enjoyed being in the spotlight. It’s not because she shied away from telling a powerful story, but because it’s hard to be the focus of the spotlight while focusing the light itself. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is more than the greatest American Novel; it is an unassuming vessel in which the Gospel… Read more »
This Isn’t About Money . . . sort of
Jesus tells the disciples a story about a man who will be going away on a journey near the end of his ministry (Matthew 25:14-30). This man shares his wealth with his servants before departing, offering them no explanation as to what they are supposed to do with this entrusted property. The amount of wealth… Read more »
Your 2016 Story
The Christmas season is in full swing (It’s twelve days, after all…) though it seems that the world has moved on. I saw King Cakes in Walmart yesterday, but eating a slice of its gooey, frosted goodness is just a sin before January 6th. Beginning this Sunday my congregation will begin a new worship series… Read more »
The Christmas Trinity
The nativity story is a play in three acts revealing to us God’s essence. In the first act Luke sets the story squarely in a real place and time. “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.” Luke starts at the top with Caesar because in… Read more »
Lights Please…
The girls are home from school this week as we get ready for the Christmas holiday. As I started to write my Christmas Eve sermon I invited the girls to help me. I read them the Christmas story from Luke’s gospel, and I invited them to ask me questions about the story or to tell… Read more »
A Clever Genocide
13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Matthew 2:13 ‘The kingdom of… Read more »
Dr. What’s-Your-Problem, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Coffee
This Starbucks red cup thing needs no more press (yeah, so here’s a blog post about it . . . smooth). Some are upset that Starbucks’ holiday disposable cup doesn’t saying anything about Christmas. I would hope that Christians are too busy with doing the things Jesus said to do as he read from the… Read more »
Those Pagan Kids
I recently read a Facebook post from someone upset that so many churches were celebrating that “Pagan” holiday, Halloween. This irritation is as perennial as church pumpkin patch fundraisers. Some suggest that churches are bowing to culture and diluting Christ’s Gospel, or that celebrating Halloween crosses an idolatrous border. It is true that Halloween isn’t… Read more »
Is Mercy Ever Wrong? Doctor Who and the Magician’s Apprentice
Sorry for the long post and the rambling, run-on sentences . . . “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). Is there ever a situation in which showing mercy is wrong? This was the parting question during the Doctor Who season 9 opener last week. In lieu of giving away spoilers, the Doctor is… Read more »