One of the occupational hazards of being a pastor in a larger church is that a lot of people know you, but you don’t always recognize them. Many times at, say, the grocery store, I will see someone whose face looks familiar, like I know they’ve attended our church, but I don’t know their name. …
A Sermon for Easter Sunday We begin today with a quiz for all you history buffs out there. What happened on April 11, 1954? Actually, that’s a trick question. NOTHING happened on April 11, 1954, at least nothing historically significant according to a scientist at Cambridge University who developed a search engine to discover the …
Part 5 of “We Believe: The Nicene Creed” One of the things I’ve been noticing lately is that in clergy circles there is an overwhelmingly negative vibe about the future of the church—not just the United Methodist Church, but the Church in general. We are bombarded with statistics about the church’s decline; people are attending …
Part IV of “We Believe: The Nicene Creed” Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 One of the highlights for those going on a pilgrimage to Israel is a trip to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the ancient church that houses the traditional sites of Golgotha, the place where Jesus died, and the tomb in which he …
Part 3 of “We Believe: The Nicene Creed” Texts: Colossians 1:15-20; John 1:1-18 One of my favorite assignments as a young infantry officer in the Army was my stint as leader of the battalion scout platoon. The scout platoon was the reconnaissance unit, which meant that we spent a lot of time operating forward of …
Part 1 of “We Believe: The Nicene Creed” This week we began the season of Lent—a forty day preparation for Easter and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from dead—the most important event in history and the foundation of the Christian faith. In a lot of ways, Lent is about going back to basics: …
Part V of “Redeeming Sex” Scriptures: John 8:1-11; Matthew 9:9-13 So, let’s review where we’ve been so far in this series. We began with a look at sexuality as a gift from God, part of our creation in the image of God in which we reflect God’s nature as community and in which we carry …
It’s no secret that our culture has undergone a sea change in our attitudes about sexuality during our lifetimes. I remember watching old TV shows, for example, where couples were depicted as sleeping in separate beds, houses seemed to have no bathrooms, and even the word “pregnant” made network censors nervous. That seems quaint today …
Transforming the Mind: The End of Sexual Identity Continue Reading »
Part III of “Redeeming Sex” Texts: Matthew 22:23-33; I Corinthians 7:25-35 Ask most pastors which they would rather do, a funeral or a wedding, and most will tell you that they would prefer to do the funeral every time. It seems counterintuitive—funerals are “sad” and weddings are supposed to be “happy,” so why prefer the …
Part II of “Redeeming Sex” A few years back there was a media report going around about the rock singer Sting who, according to the report, claimed that he was a practitioner of an ancient eastern form of Tantric sex and could “make love for eight hours a night.” This was big news in the …
Disoriented Orientations: When Sex Becomes an Idol Continue Reading »
Part I of the Series “Redeeming Sex” Let’s talk about sex. That’s not a sentence you often hear from the pulpit. It’s so unusual that when I advertised a summer sermon series on sex while I was in Park City, UT, the local radio station called me and wanted to interview me. They thought that …
Word came this afternoon through a variety of online classic rock and musician sites that drummer Neil Peart (pronounced “PEERT” for the uninitiated. Accept no substitutes.) is putting away his ProMark 747 drum sticks for good. His announcement was a subtle one, as befitting a thoughtful wordsmith like Neil: “Lately Olivia [his young daughter] has …
Exit the Warrior: Thoughts on Neil Peart’s Retirement Continue Reading »
Luke 19:1-10 We’ve come to the end of our series on Wesley’s Rules for the Use of Money, where we’ve talked so far about earning all you can and saving all you can. But now we come to the third rule which, in many ways, is the goal of the other two—that we “give all …
Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 25:14-30 So, here’s another parable featuring money which indicates Jesus’ concern over its use or misuse, though this parable actually fits within the larger context of preparing for the coming kingdom of God. It’s sandwiched between the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids and Jesus’ warning about the judgment of the …
Wesley’s Rules for Money: Save All You Can Continue Reading »
Luke 16:1-13 This has to be the weirdest of Jesus’ parables. Everything seems backwards—a “dishonest” manager is commended? The children of this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than “the people of light” (i.e. God’s people)? Use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves? It’s no wonder that a lot of preachers …
Wesley’s Rules for Money: Earn All You Can Continue Reading »