Help for forgiving and seeking forgiveness
March 17, 2017This past Sunday I preached about forgiveness. Seeking or offering it can feel like having a huge weight lifted. Jesus said both are connected to our relationship to God. Yet, doing either can be very difficult. For all those reasons I want to recap a few of the insights and tips I shared on Sunday and add a few notes.
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Ignore me if you want to live
March 10, 2017In a classic scene from the movie Terminator, the protagonist proclaims to a woman being hunted by a deadly Arnold Schwarzenegger character, "Come with me if you want to live." I couldn't help but think of that line as I read one of this week's spiritual meditations from the book, Pauses for Lent. Only, the message I heard was, "Ignore me if you want to live."
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Small group meet-and-greet & ice cream social this Sunday after Access
March 03, 2017You can feel very anonymous in a large church like ours… until you join a small group. In a group, everyone knows your name, they challenge and encourage you to grow in your faith, and when you need support, they have your back.
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"We've sinned against God. We ate chocolate!"
February 24, 2017I love teens. Years ago as a youth minister two of them walked into my office and greeted me with the words of this post’s subject line. Whether they were joking or serious or a bit of both it led to a great conversation about Lent, a time period that begins next Wednesday. I want to tell you a bit about Lent and what it has to do with chocolate. I’ll even give you a spiritually enriching excuse to eat some.
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Our church is contributing to people achieving the American Dream
February 17, 2017A recent Freakonomics podcast, Is the American Dream Really Dead?, highlighted increasing income inequality in the U.S. and decreased ability of people to do better financially than their parents. The podcast shared two things that can help overcome the growing tendency to be born poor and stay that way. As I listened I realized our church is creating both of those in our neighborhood!
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Passionately disagreeing, Christian-style
February 10, 2017I love our church for many reasons including the diversity of politics represented in our congregation. The Sunday after the president’s executive order banning travel from certain countries I had memorable conversations with two church members about what had happened. One member was filled with excitement and optimism, another with frustration and dread. Yet they both came to worship God together at our church. I find great hope in that, and it got me thinking about practical advice for how to passionately disagree yet maintain our unity as Christians.
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The time the nation’s leader danced in his underwear
January 20, 2017As I write this on Thursday, some are wondering how “presidential” Donald Trump will appear at his inauguration. Others question if a dignified appearance matters. One Bible story suggests God liked it when the national leader stripped to his underwear ...
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God Notices You - A Lesson I Learned in Bethlehem
December 23, 2016Modern-day Bethlehem is not a place where “all is calm, all is bright.” When a group from our church visited a few days after Christmas last year I saw signs of conflict and poverty. But in nearby Jericho a Palestinian told me, “You being here brings hope.” It seemed that the tougher the situation had gotten, the more people had left and stopped visiting. Those that remained felt forgotten. As I consider the similarities between 1st century Bethlehem and the Bethlehem of today, I believe God chose that birthplace in part to communicate to everyone feeling forgotten, “God notices you.”
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Theologically, Metallica gets it right (to a point)
December 09, 2016My music tastes have changed a bit over the years. As a preteen I had a Lionel Richie cassette. On Saturdays I would drop it into my imitation Walkman and soft-rock out to “Hello” and “Stuck on You” as I mowed the yard. I’m not entirely sure what caused the change, but over time Lionel got pushed aside by people with names like Axel and Ozzy, and the color palette of my cassettes shifted towards that of Metallica’s “black” album. Speaking of which, Metallica has a new album, and the title track has some solid theology.
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How to Work Together When Separated By Politics
November 10, 2016We have evidence that Jesus’ inner circle contained at least two people with strongly opposite political beliefs. Matthew worked as a tax collector, collaborating with the Roman occupiers of Judea. Simon was known as the Zealot, a term used to describe people strongly against any kind of collaboration. As far as we know these two managed to work together and get along despite their political differences. I believe that’s still possible today, and we can help make it happen by following two principles we see in Jesus’ life and teaching.
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Election Next Week - It'll Be Ok
November 04, 2016At multiple points during this year’s presidential campaign I’ve found myself feeling like the little boy whose voice was caught on video when one of the nominees visited his classroom: “I’m nervous. I’m nervous. I’m nervous.” News reports about both major candidates continue to make me nervous; however, I also keep reminding myself of several things from the Bible that assure me, it’ll be ok.
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I've Got Some Strings On Me
October 28, 2016The day after last week’s presidential debate I went to the Internet, curious to read people’s responses to it. On Twitter I found that the back-and-forth over which candidate is a puppet had spawned a flurry of tweets with the hashtag #GotNoStrings. While I understand the desire not to be thought of as a puppet, there’s Biblical wisdom in acknowledging, “I’ve got some strings on me.”
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