Select Page

The Possibility of Change

by | Jan 9, 2018 | 1 comment

When Anita and I were in seminary, we served a small and loving congregation in southern Indiana. One of our next-door neighbors, a generous man in his late fifties and a faithful member of the church, was crustily cynical about the possibility of change.  At...

The Politics of Christmas

by | Dec 23, 2017 | 2 comments

Even though we lose track of in the glitter and sweetness of our celebrations, Christmas is intensely and insistently political. It’s about who’s in charge.Jesus was born in an occupied land and under the shadow of Rome’s Emperor. It was his decree that Mary and...

Feeling Like Christmas? A Confession and a Distinction

by | Dec 19, 2017 | 3 comments

I’m allergic to sentimentality.I break-out in heart-hives when I brush up against counted-cross stitch samplers of motivational quotes, with greeting cards that feature babies, puppies, kittens, and balloons, and with rhyming love poems printed on a pastel background...

Thanksgiving and Repentance

by | Nov 20, 2017 | 4 comments

Maybe, later in the week, I’ll write about the numerous extraordinarily ordinary and ordinarily extraordinary gifts which are part of my everyday life and for which I am grateful. Thanksgiving’s origins, though, are civic: they have to do with the condition and...

Wisdom from a Four-Year-Old

by | Nov 8, 2017 | 15 comments

Saturday morning, at Barnes and Noble, I was in the café line to order my venti Hot Cinnamon Spice tea. Just ahead of me was a young family. Dad pushed a stroller with a sleeping 8 month old boy, dressed in Carolina blue inside. Mom paid gentle attention to a four...

Set Free to Love–A Reformation Day Sermon

by | Oct 31, 2017 | 8 comments

This morning, I had the opportunity to preach a “Reformation Day” sermon in Mars Hill University’s Chapel.  People who know something about my preaching will recognize that I’ve used, yet again, a Raymond Carver poem, the description of an...