ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 23, 2023Do you believe in miracles? There are plenty of people who would be quick to say that miracles are a bunch of nonsense, yet I have not only seen them but also had the joy of participating in them. In Acts 19:11, we read: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.” That is the narrator describing what s/he believes, and it might be exactly what I
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 22, 2023Tomorrow is Sunday, and I still don’t know what I am preaching on. Actually, I do… I simply have a major editing project ahead of me. I’m thinking most folks do not wish to sit through a 90-minute sermon, and right now, that’s where it is. Actually, this is not a very uncommon occurrence for me. Sometimes a sermon, in the editing process, gets broken
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 21, 2023I love it when the Judge next door at the Courthouse calls us to do a wedding (Paula, Mariah, and I have all done weddings). Sometimes we get the call because he is stuck in court and has a couple waiting to be married. Though we interact with the couples for less than 20 minutes, and usually just 15, I still really enjoy the people
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 20, 2023Last Sunday, after worship, I grabbed a bite of lunch before coming back to the church for the big send-off—the youth mission trip. It was about 1:15pm, so only a little over an hour had passed since folks had left the Forum after worship. As I walked up the steps on the Library side, I walked through one of the thickest spiderwebs I had walked
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 19, 2023A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon that caused some folks to squirm, others to ask challenging questions, and still others to disagree. And to be clear, within our tradition, disagreeing is something you are more than welcome to do. I just encourage people to do more than disagree simply because something makes them feel uncomfortable. Within the large spectrum that is Christianity (both
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 18, 2023Last night, I had the joy of participating in a Zoom Call to honor Paul Few, who has served our denomination in the area of Men’s Ministry, on the Local, Regional, and General levels. I know Paul, not only through his work with the church, but also because he is my stepfather. There were so many people on the call who I knew when I
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 17, 2023A Prayer for the WeekA prayer for everyone who is tired today—tired from the heat, from the stresses of daily life, from the constant barrage of hostility in politics, and from the stress of caring for someone who requires more and more help. Lord God, we name the weariness of body and soul, and though we take any opportunity for a quick nap, we also
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 16, 2023Yesterday, I started my Etching with a question: Does worship have a purpose? I did not necessarily answer the question directly, though I hope the Etching echoed some of the concerns the Prophet Isaiah had with the way certain worship practices were used to conceal unethical behavior. Let me suggest that I not only believe worship has a purpose, but I also believe it will
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 15, 2023Does worship have a purpose? Tomorrow morning, I will look at a portion of Isaiah 58 in which there is a glimmer of hope after some very challenging words. The discomforting thoughts are found in the first four verses of this chapter, where we read: Shout loudly; don’t hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet!Announce to my people their crime, to the house of Jacob their
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 14, 2023God is often referred to as the Alpha and the Omega (the A and Z in the Greek alphabet), the beginning and the end. In the opening words of scripture, God clearly precedes creation and is understood as something other than creation. Yet this God, who existed prior to the first spark of life, is One who intimately involves the divine self in every aspect