Force them to listen if you have to. You cannot be the spiritual authorities for your family if you do not accept the authority of Scripture in front of them. It is your job to teach them about the Scriptures, not their Sunday School Teacher’s or the pastor’s. No excuses, moms and dads. It isn’t… Read More »
End of Sermon
There have been a couple of times over the years that I’ve ended the message on Sunday with “end of sermon.” This is as much a signal to myself as it is to the congregation. It tend to ramble on a bit, and I have to tell myself to stop talking. We all have some… Read More »
My Adventure with iPhone 5
I am a gadget nerd. I think everyone who knows me know this about me. Given a choice between buying something I should probably buy and a new gadget, I will probably buy the gadget. Not surprisingly, most of my gadgets are from Apple. Back in 2009, my aunt and cousin gave me the money to buy… Read More »
Singing Theology
In November, I will be teaching a series called “Singing Theology.” We will be talking quite a bit about music and worship. Over the years, my thinking on this issue has swung back and forth a bit. On Sunday, our congregation sang people’s favorite hymns. Generally, we worship using music from many different ages. We… Read More »
Restraint or Enabling?
Without the integrity of the game, what do you have? A bunch of big, strong, angry men who have reached their breaking point. Jackie MacMullan, ESPN Boston Last night, the Patriots lost to the Ravens. Make no mistake – the Patriots lost that game. They had a couple crucial errors in pass coverage that allowed… Read More »
Vacation and Confirming Your Calling
TO OREGONIANS: THIS POST IS TONGUE-IN-CHEEK AND UTILIZES HYPERBOLE TO DESCRIBE YOUR FAIR STATE. DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. NEW ENGLANDERS: [WHISPERED TO ONE SIDE] BUT IT IS MOSTLY TRUE. People in Oregon are crazy. I mean, they are crazy. We spent two weeks in Corvallis, Oregon, with my grandfather and his wife Sandy. It was… Read More »
The Old Men
English is a funny language. Someone once said that English does not borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark valley, beats them up and goes through their pockets for vocabulary and grammar. In Greek, the leaders of a church are called presbēteroy (singular presbēterōs) and epēskōpoy (singular epēskōpōs). The latter word literally means “to see over” and… Read More »
A Deeply Troubling Moment
The Scriptures contain some very, very strange passages. There are things in the Bible that make even the most committed readers shake their heads in confusion. One of the all-time strangest passages is 1 Kings 22. Why? Just read it. Here’s a little context. Ahab b. Omri became king of Israel in 873 BCE. His… Read More »
Review – Hiking Through
Paul Stutzman lost his wife to cancer. A Mennonite by birth and a restaurant manager by trade, Stutzman was used to being home and staying close. His family was very conservative, his life was under control. But the loss of his beloved Mary threw him for a loop he could not handle. Unsure of how… Read More »
Preach As If the Scriptures Mean Something
James MacDonald recently posted “Five Things We Do Instead of Preach.” I won’t reiterate the points he made, all of which are valid. I once had a pastor tell me that he was too busy to prepare sermons, which was why he bought and borrowed series from well-known ministries rather than write his own. Sure, he… Read More »
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