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Scripture:  Ephesians 4:1-16 I do not know about your household, but in ours we have a countdown going on right now.   We are just days away, five days in fact, until the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games.   My wife loves the Olympics.   It is pretty much a given, that from this Friday until the … [Read more…]

2021 State of the Church As I think about the state of the church, my thoughts turn to sports; specifically football.  In 2012 the San Francisco 49’ers were near the top of the NFL.  While they did not get the win, the team competed in the Super Bowl that year.  The year after that they … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Ephesians 2:1-10 I do not know if you remember it, but there was a news story from the end of 2019 that made the rounds through every major news outlet.   An Italian modern conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan duct taped a banana to a wall, called it “The Comedian” and insisted it was art.  The … [Read more…]

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:11-20 Richard Nixon is remembered by history for a lot of dubious reasons.  Even though corruption largely stains his presidential legacy, Nixon does hold a notable first among U.S. Presidents.   He was the first president to close an address to the American people with the phrase “God Bless America.”  While neither Ford nor … [Read more…]

When I was in seminary I was the youth minister at a church in Indianapolis.  This church had a wonderful group of people called “the stitchers” who did some really great work.   Among other things they made turbans for cancer patients and blankets for premature babies.   This group was very open about accepting new people, … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Mark 4:26-32 Perhaps you have noticed this, but preachers tend to talk about what they know.  The sports fan makes a lot of baseball analogies.   The veteran finds illustrations in war stories.  The geek makes a lot of Star Wars references.  In trying to reach a deeper understanding of God’s great grace, incredible love, … [Read more…]

1 Samuel 16:1-13 There is a really good chance that if you have a child in your life, then at some point in the past few year you have sat through a conversation where they talked to you with great excitement about all that they were doing in Minecraft.  There is also a really good … [Read more…]

Scripture:  1 Samuel 8:4-20 We were fortunate over the last week that as a family we got to go Disney World.  One of the things this really reminded me of is just how much Disney is obsessed with royalty.  In the Disney movies that do not feature animal characters, two thirds of the female leads … [Read more…]

While we are not quite there yet, it seems that we can finally see a light to the end of the COVID tunnel.  Some of the things in our lives that have been on pause for over a year might be able to resume within the next few months.  I know one of the things … [Read more…]

Scripture: Acts 1:15-17; 21-27 Earlier this year, I observed something that I thought I would never see happen.  I saw long time Colts fan give Tom Brady begrudging respect.   While there overall opinion of him might still be slightly deflated, winning his seventh super bowl with Tampa Bay Buccaneers this year caused even his toughest … [Read more…]