I want you to forget about life after life, put it right out of your mind and do not give it another thought. Don’t get me wrong: I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. I … [Read more…]
Back in the summer of 2013, like so many thousands of men, women, youth, and children who were fed up with certain actions being taken by our state’s General Assembly, I drove down to Halifax Mall every Monday afternoon to participate in Moral Monday protests. Over that summer I heard impassioned pleas, strident demands, fervent … [Read more…]
If you can imagine a map of Israel, you might close your eyes and see the small Sea of Galilee in the North feeding into the Jordan river and leading to the larger Dead Sea in the south: Galilee—the home of Jesus—at the top, Samaria in the middle, and Judea—where Jerusalem is located—at the bottom. … [Read more…]
“Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.” Can you recall a time when you were so discouraged that you were brought to tears? I’ve had times like that. I’ve been having a time like that this weekend, in fact. And I’ve been grateful to have the … [Read more…]
When our daughter moved to Toronto in 2014, one of the things that Chris and I began to enjoy was to explore the city on its excellent metro system. I’ve never known there to be more than a 2-minute wait for the next train that will take us to Greek town, Chinatown, Little Italy, the … [Read more…]
The master praised the crooked manager . . . because he knew how to look after himself . . . You can’t serve both God and the Bank. I have a really hard time figuring out how Jesus got from this parable to the moral he draws from it. “The master praised the manager . … [Read more…]
Before I could start working on today’s sermon, I had to post a piece of pottery to sell on eBay. I was actually in kind of a tight spot because of a conversation that Chris and I had last Sunday evening on the porch of our hotel room at Oak Island. We were talking about … [Read more…]
Do you remember that old commercial for Memorex cassette tapes where Ella Fitzgerald shattered a glass with her voice, and the voice over asked “Is it live or is it Memorex?” The selling point was that Memorex cassette tapes could reproduce sound so clearly and truly that it was hard to tell the difference between … [Read more…]
Tenth Sunday After Pentecost, August 18, 2019 I was in kind of a quandary choosing hymns for this Sunday. There aren’t many hymns to the scorched-earth God, or many that plead with God to “lay that hammer down, boy!” Our hymnal—and, I think, our entire tradition of hymns—contains precious few hymns about the transforming power … [Read more…]
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost: August 11, 2019 Some Sundays all of the lectionary texts fit together so perfectly that it is hard to choose what to preach on. And as you all know by now, every Bible passage is my favorite! “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them[,” … [Read more…]