The Bible claims in its very first chapter that we are created in the image of God. But what does that mean? Does it mean we look like God? Does it mean we have souls? Does it mean we can love? Does it mean that we, unlike animals, can tell… Continue reading
The king was dead. For over 40 years Uzziah had ruled Judah, and those years had been an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for the Kingdom. In a land where the average life span was around 40 years, very few people could remember a time when Uzziah was not… Continue reading
Franciscan priest Richard Rohr in his provocative book entitled The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for and Believe says that “humans are punished by their sins more than for their sins.” This astute observation has several important implications. Tragically, an astonishing number of… Continue reading
[The following sermon was preached at the dedication of our older grandson, Grant.] In England and throughout all of Europe the standard line regarding church attendance is this: most people are in church three times during their lives—the day of their baptism (and remember that almost all of Europe practices… Continue reading
(The following sermon was preached at a Child Dedication service. I have included the pastoral prayer, the communion meditation, and the commission.) Our passage makes clear a fundamental truth about the home and the responsibility of parents regarding the religious training of their children. And that truth, expressed in the… Continue reading
In Thomas Traherne’s Centuries of Meditations, we find a story about Pyrrhus, King of Epire. This king was considering an invasion of Italy and sent for the counsel of a philosopher named Cineas who was his friend and whose advice he respected. Cineas asked the king why he wanted to… Continue reading
We live in a day when people are searching for meaning, belonging, and God. Far too many are finding no consolation or guidance in our mobile, rootless, and shallow culture. When we consider religious affiliation in this country, the largest growing group is not Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, or Pentecostals. And we… Continue reading
In I Thessalonians 1, Paul praises the remarkable and exemplary church in Thessalonica for their “work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” To those early Christians that phrase “Lord Jesus Christ” had a punch to it–a power and dynamism that is largely… Continue reading
Meister Eckhart lived from 1260-1329 and was probably the greatest of the medieval Christian mystics. He was a very popular preacher in his day. We still have most of his sermons. Some of his insights anticipated discoveries in modern physics as well as the development of Process Philosophy and Theology…. Continue reading
The Exodus was the pivotal event in the Hebrew Scriptures. In that act of deliverance God freed the Hebrew slaves from Egyptian bondage. The Exodus became the foundation for Israel’s understanding of God and for their ethical approach to life. Repeatedly the people were told in their tradition that they… Continue reading
