May we begin with a game today? I’m going to tell you three things. Two of them will be true. One will be a lie. I’m going to tell you three statements. After I’ve told all three, then I’ll ask you to raise your hand for the one you believe is NOT true. Okay? 1. … read
“A hard frost hits in September, sometimes as early as Labor Day,” writes Garrison Keillor, describing life in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota: “A hard frost hits and kills the tomatoes that we, being frugal, protected with straw and paper tents, which we, being sick of tomatoes, left some holes in. The milkweed pods turn brown and … read
When I worked in construction, I had a front-row seat to the often interminable process of getting a building permit. Satisfying the municipality’s code requirements, easing the neighborhood association’s concerns, working out site-access agreements. It often seemed to take forever. If you witnessed what it took to get the parking-lot upgrade into the ground here … read
For one long sentence, this one is packed with a lot of theology. For instance, we’re talking redemption, forgiveness, adoption, election, and yes, predestination. This one long sentence reads like a poem and it sings like a hymn. And we are singing it today. The writer of Ephesians packs a lot into one long sentence. … read
There are some remarkable things in the passage that Eileen just read. One is that when Jesus was in his own hometown, he was limited in his power. “He could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.” Another remarkable thing is the … read
A message caught my eye this weekend at the Presbytery meeting in Salem. It said “Love everyone. I will sort them out, later.”—God I believe it is safe to say that right now, globally and nationally, we are not doing a very good job of loving everyone. But we are good at sorting each other … read