(The following sermon was delivered at our grandson Jeffery’s dedication service.) An honest study of the Scriptures will not provide a lot of specific guidance regarding the rearing of children. And to be honest, some of that guidance is not helpful: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” “If your… Continue reading
[When I was pastor of the Wabash Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) I wrote this article on July 7, 1993, for the church newsletter. I wish so much that someone had given me a message like this when I graduated from high school and college—and to be honest, from seminary… Continue reading
“Amen, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.” A well-known saying from Jesus, but what is it about children we are called to embrace for the sake of our salvation? Well, there is the trust children have in their… Continue reading
The background to our passage is the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Those descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have suffered the harshness of slavery for centuries. Generation after generation has cried out for freedom. The Hebrews experience despair, agony, humiliation, suffering and, perhaps worst of all, hopelessness. The… Continue reading
Chapter 39 of Genesis comes to us in three parts. The middle part, verses 7-20, tell us of a concrete incident in the life of Joseph. Here we find a slice of life – here we can see the content of life for a Hebrew slave, at least for that… Continue reading
Why was Moses allowed to see the back of God? He saw some of the glory of God – not the face-to-face glory he desired, but the back of God–the hind-parts as the Hebrew puts it. Why? We understand why he was not allowed to see God’s face (he would… Continue reading
[I want to preface our hearing of the Scripture today with some clarifying remarks. As many of you know, the personal name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures is Yahweh. That was the covenantal name revealed to Israel and cherished by God’s people. By the time of Jesus, this name… Continue reading
(12 minutes) Are you ever haunted by the question, “Who am I?” It is a human question, and it is a question of practical theology. Who are we, really? As Christians we make a lot of claims for our faith – for the effectiveness of God’s salvation – for the… Continue reading
(12 minutes) I don’t think that we will have discovered America until we have some sense of the feelings of the natives that walked over this place. And the people that were the furthest from understanding the sense of the natives that walked over this place were the conquerors of… Continue reading
Once upon a time there was a mother with many children. Like most parents, this mother loved her children and did all she could to provide for, care for, and nurture them. She gave sacrificially of herself year after year. Not all of her children, however, followed her example. Some… Continue reading
