ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 23, 2026 Prayer for the Week: Holy and Sacred Presence, we can so easily feel overwhelmed and our minds left racing with worries. We acknowledge these anxieties in the belief that naming them begins to diminish their power. And as we disempower what seeks to hold sway over our lives, we are able to slow down our breath and be more fully present in the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 22, 2026 In today’s sermon verse from the Grab Bag of verses, we find the words, “…those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them.” The word translated as “remain” can also be translated as “dwell” or “abide.” Does this mean that if we cease to remain in love that we no longer remain in God, and even more concerning to
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 21, 2026 I have struggled to motivate myself to write this Etching. For you see, I have felt the need to write on a topic that I’d rather ignore. Yet as much as I have tried to go elsewhere with my thinking, I continue to return to this one thing. His name is Cesar Chavez, and I wrote about him back in high school. He
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 20, 2026 Yesterday, after eight previous NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments, Nebraska finally secured a victory. It’s remarkable that despite numerous appearances and even predictions of a first-round win, they have lost each time. This time, however, they were victorious. While I won’t try to make some grand theological statement using sports analogies, I must acknowledge the profound disappointment that accompanies all those previous losses. The
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 19, 2026 Yesterday at the Men’s Prayer Gathering, we watched a sermon by Dr. Fred Craddock, considered one of the greatest preachers of the last century. He died eleven years ago, but along with his brilliant rhetorical approach to preaching, Craddock had a great sense of humor. In the sermon we watched, he had a marvelous play on language, specifically talking about a deficit of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 18, 2026 A quote from Bishop Desmond Tutu has been speaking to me over the last couple of weeks. He said, “Your ordinary acts of hope and love point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.” Not to look at it from the negative, but after reading it for the first time, I asked myself, “What do I do that
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 17, 2026 I had a pretty heated debate the other day with an AI attendant. So, I called my car dealership to make an appointment for my car. There was a recall. The very nice voice on the phone asked me how she could help. I explained that I had a recall on my car. The person asked for the specifics on the recall. I
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 16, 2026 Prayer for the Week: Holy Inspiration, O Holy Spirit, allow for the life and public witness of Jesus to become for us a model for how we are to live in faith. Provide us with your strength, hope, and visionary promise. These gifts shall dwell deep within us, enabling us both to want and to actually live out the good purposes you have
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 15, 2026 QUESTION: Where is the Kin(g)dom of God? Some would place it in heaven after we die. Some would argue that it will come after the tribulation and Jesus returns, but I look at words of Jesus in Mark 1:15, as he was beginning his ministry right after his baptism. He says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near…”
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS March 14, 2026 I am often surprised when people seem to suggest you cannot hold two ideas simultaneously. Sure, there are situations when two things are impossible to claim to be true at the same time. To my point, let me give you some context. A person who had seen a post where I shared concerns about the attacks in Iran wanted to know if I