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Scripture:  Matthew 10:1, 7-8 Today his name is virtually unknown, but Lorenzo Dow was one of America’s most famous celebrities during his time.  For instance, his autobiography was the second best-selling book second only to the Bible.  His notoriety was so great that it became fashionable to name children after him, and U.S. census data … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Hebrews 13:1-3 The story goes that there once was a successful businessman.  He worked long hours but he was an expert at growing business operation to larger scales.  Finally, his family convinced him to actually take a vacation and they went to a small Brazilian village on the beach.   As the businessman sat on … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:10-20 Several years ago when I lived in Indianapolis, I read an article in the Sunday paper lifestyle section of the newspaper that has stuck with me all of these years.   It was about Mr. Silent, Indianapolis’ very own real life superhero.    He was a guy who were a three piece suit, a … [Read more…]

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…]