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
Part Two of this series entitled “You Can’t Go Home Again” ended with the suggestion that Christians should best be envisioned as pilgrims rather than wanderers. Pilgrims are on the move toward a goal. They are not homesteaders, but they do have a destination. If our primary calling is to… Continue reading
(Parousia is the Greek word used in the New Testament which is commonly understood as the Second Coming. Parousia simply means “presence” or “appearing.” It is one of the metaphors used in the Bible and theology to refer to the fulfillment of God’s purpose for creation. Like all metaphors, it… Continue reading
For most people the word “evangelism” conjures up images of tent revivals, pleading evangelists, threats of hell, promises of heaven, and “getting saved.” Evangelism is all some churches and Christians want to talk about while in other churches it is one of the most uncomfortable topics imaginable. One of the… Continue reading
When I was a child, I always looked forward to the Sunday paper. The paper for that day of the week was several times bigger than the newspaper we received the other six days. My interest was solely in the comic section which contained about five times the amount of… Continue reading
The most valuable things in life are free. They are gifts from God to be received, celebrated, lived, and shared. They cannot be bought, earned, or bartered. They come as gifts, or they do not come at all. At this time of the year, we look to those gifts traditionally… Continue reading
Advent is a time when the church prepares itself for the coming of Christ—the birth of this strange peasant king who rules through love and service, truth and justice, compassion and peace. Continue reading
This country has no hope of maintaining its democracy or any moral decency until it repents of its Original Sin of racism. We were built on genocide of one race and the enslavement of another race. And to this very day, that evil legacy continues to bear bitter fruit. We must remember, and in that remembering, experience the repentance necessary for needed healing and reconciliation. Continue reading
Even though our time is not the time of John the Seer, we too need a bright morning star. In times of such confusion and bewilderment, chaos and upheaval, we need to refocus our eyes on Jesus. In doing so, we will rediscover the primacy of compassion, rededicate ourselves to the search and affirmation of truth, flesh out our love into action, embrace the necessity of forgiveness, and orient our lives through a primary commitment to God’s justice and righteousness. In a gray world such as ours as well as in the dark, sinister world of John, Christ can serve as the bright morning star as he enlightens our paths and enables us to see what is in and around us. Continue reading
When I despair of our world, and to be honest, when I despair of myself, I remember the stars filling a Texas sky on a cold winter night. Any creature out in space looking at our planet would see it not as it is today but as it was however many light-years away that creature may be from the earth. And just as that creature’s estimate of this earth would be woefully inadequate as to the world’s present condition, so any estimate we may have of ourselves or our world apart from God’s vision of what shall be is also terribly lacking. Continue reading
