Many modern/postmodern people are reluctant to talk about sin. Part of the reason is because of the sick theology from much of the church regarding that subject. Emphases on original sin, trivial sins, threats of hell, exclusive claims regarding salvation, and a judgmental, punishing God are a turnoff for people… Continue reading
Today, May 23, 2023, I saw two articles on the Internet concerning the decline of religion (especially Christianity) in the US. The first article reports the results of the General Social Survey, the University of Chicago’s research group NORC, the Pew Research Center, Public Religion Research Institute, and a 2022… Continue reading
This sermon was written for the thousands of churches in our culture who are anxious about the future of their dwindling congregations. The sermon assumes that we are in a time of transition regarding the nature of both the church and Christianity. My hope is that what I share may be helpful as congregations contemplate their identity, mission, and future in our changing society. Continue reading
Why has the church today gone on the defensive behind the walls of its fortresses protecting its complacent members?
What “weapons” can the church use in its assault on the very gates of hell? Continue reading
Read the Scripture The obvious answer is these large barns of grain as well as all the man’s wealth will go to his heirs. All the man’s energy and time, all the precious potential he squandered while focusing on acquisition and greed, all the possibilities he rejected to make the… Continue reading
Jesus’ teachings often came in the form of parables. He no doubt shared these parables with his hearers on many occasions and perhaps in different contexts. Often the original context(s) of a particular parable has been lost in the mists of yesteryear. The Gospel writers try to place parables within… Continue reading
The third lecture in a series given by Walter Brueggemann in a Canadian Anglican church is entitled “New Orientation: Faith as Gift and as Impossibility.” This lecture concludes Brueggemann’s presentation of the Psalms from the perspective of Orientation, Disorientation, and New Orientation. He ends his lecture series with this definition… Continue reading
I lament both the lack of knowledge about the Bible in our culture and the various ways in which it is misused within so many churches and in secular society. On one side, we have fundamentalist Christians who insist on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. On the opposite… Continue reading
All her life she had heard that homosexuals could not be saved and were destined for hell unless they repented and allowed God to change them. She had heard such a message from preachers, tv evangelists, friends, and other Christians. And it broke her heart to think that the grandson she so loved was burning in hell because he was gay. Continue reading
Read the Scripture “In our midst” is the theme of all the resurrection stories in the Gospel of John. We see that theme in the account of Mary at the tomb when the Risen Christ appears to her and calls her by name and in the story of the disciples… Continue reading
