‘Tis the season — the season for snow, gift-giving, carols, family, big meals … and lawsuits. Christmas-related lawsuits and complaints have become as reliable a tradition as any other. Already a couple has won a $75,000 lawsuit against their homeowners’ association who wanted them to take down their Christmas light display. A Nebraska principal banned all things Christmas at her […]
In recent times, missionaries used to be generally respected by society. Even those who disagreed with their message had to admire those who would pack up, leave their home, and live in a foreign country to share a message of hope with the people. There was a widespread appreciation for the fact that many of these missionaries, in addition to […]
After a hotly contested election full of all the hostility we’ve come to expect from the American people these days, I wanted to express some quick scattered thoughts. The “blue wave” The blue wave was pretty underwhelming. Democrats won the races they had to to change the status quo, but not much more than that. At best, they met expectations […]
The Bible uses lots of titles for Jesus. Son of God, Alpha and Omega, Lord, Son of Man. Most of these names, while they may be somewhat unfamiliar language, are easy to explain. But of all the titles used for Jesus in the Bible, there’s one used in the beginning of John’s Gospel that’s probably the most obscure and hard […]
Every church sings. No matter what faith tradition, size, theology, demographic, or style, singing is one of the few things that every community that calls itself a church has in common. There’s good reason for that. The longest book in the Bible, the book of Psalms, is a book consisting entirely of songs. Ephesians 5:18 tells us, “Speak to one […]
It’s in tumultuous times that we celebrate the 242nd birthday of the United States of America. Everywhere, people will be waving American flags, having barbecues, and watching fireworks; that much is certain. But underneath it all is a lot of negative sentiment about our country, too. A recent poll, in fact, showed that, for the first time this century, a […]
Chances are, it’s a hot weekend for you. Throughout the United States and Europe, most places are seeing temps 10-20 degrees above normal, with heat indices even higher. It’s about the second strong heat wave in a hotter-than-normal summer, probably best spent indoors with the A/C running full blast. This isn’t earth-shattering news. This usually happens once or twice […]
Church is hard to do. Anytime you live as part of a community of people, it’s hard. The closer the community is, the greater the challenges. And when that community calls itself a family, as the church calls itself the family of God, the challenges to participating in that community are as great as can be. We all know how […]
So I haven’t posted on here in a while, and I intend to get back to posting more regularly soon. In the meantime, I thought I would post the manuscript of my most recent sermon, delivered on our church’s graduation Sunday: In 2008, when I graduated high school, it wasn’t my first graduation ceremony, nor would it be my last. […]
Israel has been in the news a lot lately, and it’s been some big news. First, there’s been rumors of war flying concerning Israel and its newest archnemesis, Iran. This itself is nothing new, but now there’s actually been an exchange of attacks in Syria. On top of that, just yesterday the United States celebrated the opening of its embassy […]
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