Word came over the wire this morning that author Kurt Vonnegut has died at age 84. I never really read any of his work, though I had some friends in high school who were big fans. Vonnegut was a self-described religious skeptic and humanist, which would have turned me off at the time. I did …
“Everything Was Beautiful–and Nothing Hurt” Continue Reading »
Easter has come and gone, at least on the calendar. Every Sunday is Easter in the Church! That is, Easter without all the hubbub. We had a great day yesterday…755 people attended our three services. The music was rockin’–so much so that the drummer (that’d be me) got real animated during one of the songs …
What does Easter mean? We come every year expectant, knowing the story…we’re excited for Jesus…what does it mean for us? Easter is the central event in Christian faith but the reality is that many Christians aren’t sure what to do with it—where it fits. We need to know how it all fits together, and maybe …
Easter Sunday Sermon–Conversation, Invitation, Celebration Continue Reading »
The spring-like weather here in the Rockies makes this week look a whole lot more like a proper prelude to Easter. As people head out on Spring Break and town is relatively quiet, it’s a great week to do some reflection. I’ve been reading Bruce Feiler’s book Where God Was Born over the last few …
Palm Sunday is just a couple of days away and this year it falls on April Fools Day. Those seem to be incongruent holidays, but perhaps there’s a solution. See, it’s also the 50th anniversary of Elvis’s hit “All Shook Up” hitting the top of the charts (April 1957). Want to see how it all …
We’re wrapping up our series “Faces in the Crowd” this week by taking a look at the people who were closest to Jesus: the disciples. He heard the list of names of the 12 just a minute ago, but it’s important to note that each of the Gospels has some slight variants in names. The …
Faces in the Crowd: Part VI–The Disciples Continue Reading »
Some random thoughts for a Monday: – Well, the Penguins are staying in Pittsburgh, thanks to a joyous partnership between the government, the team, and the state’s new gambling income. Talk about your mixed feelings. I’m glad the team is staying put. However, when the government says that “no tax monies” were being used to …
Yesterday’s sermon featured some awesome dramatic presentations by three of the women of our church, who presented monologues telling some of the stories of the encounters Jesus had with women. The text won’t do them justice, so go to our web site for the audio (should be posted in the next couple of days).
I wrote this last year in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and thought it would be a good addition to the blog during this season. Truth is that there’s way more to Patrick than snakes and green beer! The Legacy of St. Patrick Mark 8:31-38 Acts 6:6-10 Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day and most people, …
Faces in the Crowd: The Revolutionaries Luke 13:22-25 My friend Henry Brinton, pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia, wrote a piece that appeared in this week’s USA Today called “Faith as Peacemaker.” The article was about the trend in some recent books to paint religion as the catalyst for much of the violence in …
Faces in the Crowd–Part IV: The Revolutionaries Continue Reading »
Living in the Rockies has some significant advantages over the East Coast…no bugs, no humidity, 300 days of sunshine, and a lot less traffic (unless you’re in Denver, of course). Still, you can take the boy out of the ‘Burgh, but you can’t really take the ‘Burgh out of the boy. One of the big …
It’s a Hockey Night in Pittsburgh…for now. Continue Reading »
Well, did you happen to see "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" the other night on Discovery? I taped it and yawned my way through it the next night. As I suspected, there was nothing new there…a lot of assumptions made based on late Christian and Gnostic traditions, dots connected that aren’t even on the same …
My friend and colleague at Homiletics, Henry Brinton, has a great piece published in today’s USA TODAY about the relationship of faith and efforts at making peace in the world. In a time where religion is being bashed by secularists as the cause of much violence in the world, Henry’s observations are very helpful. Os …
Faces in the Crowd: The Romans Luke 20:20-26 As we continue our series “Faces in the Crowd” I want to spend some time looking at the political climate of the first century world. We touched on this some last week, but today I want us to focus on the idea of empire. Our world has …
Sermon Series: Faces in the Crowd–Part III: The Romans Continue Reading »
Got back to the office after a morning on the windswept and snowy slopes of Park City Mountain resort conducting a tenth anniversary renewal of vows for a couple from California and found my copy of Biblical Archaeology Review waiting for me in the mailbox. That’s always a treat. That may also indicate how much …