ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 27, 2025Many people enjoy living in a daydream-like existence. They are dreamers, with no intention of sharing the dreams or attempting to bring the dreams to fruition. The best way of seeing dreams become reality is to actually wake up from your dreaming. In the story of Joseph, whose father made him a coat of many colors, we find many dreams that were uncomfortable to share,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 26, 2025I have been doing some reading on the Apostle Paul’s sexual ethic. Some of you are thinking to yourself, “Bruce, find a hobby… consider stamp collecting.” Starting in 1st Corinthians 7, Paul sounds as if he is freestyling, just making it up as he goes. As you read the chapter, it reads like a stream of consciousness, as if Paul did not have the option
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 25, 2025On the BBC’s website is a story about a fossil of the terror birds some 13 million years ago. This bird clearly lived up to its name as one of the top predators, standing at nearly 8 feet tall, with a beak that ripped flesh from any animal. What captured the attention of scientists were some bite marks on the leg bone of the terror
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 23, 2025Early in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is baptized by John, and then Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. Only 14 verses in the Gospel, John is arrested, and Jesus begins his public ministry. I think most people breeze right through those 13 verses on their way to another destination, missing the confusion and tension that must have been felt by those who were disciples of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 22, 2025Donna and I have definitely moved into old people’s world as we have been extraordinarily excited about a new refrigerator. It arrived after I left town, so Donna has been learning all the basics. Guess what! It’s not like the old days when you just plugged it in and it got cold. Among the questions, come to find out, is one that is rather important.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 21, 2025The fourth-century Syrian church leaders, Ephrem and Simeon, believed faith was not filtered through the mind but the heart. They advocated for tears to be a sacrament in the church, like communion and baptism. Ephrem suggested that if you have not cried, then you probably do not know God. What would it mean for us to hold tears as sacred as every other ritual in
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 20, 2025Today, I leave on my final sabbatical trip. It will include checking on my father-in-law in Arkansas and hanging out with my siblings in Nebraska, but a majority of the time will be spent interviewing different pastors on how better to engage our first-time visitors. As I have shared with many, we have four different groups of people visiting CCCC. The first are people who
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 19, 2025I just don’t understand things… a lot of things. So, I get the bill for my knee surgery, and my surgeon charged about $130,000, but the insurance company wrote off about $105,000. My kid’s car has a problem with the catalytic converter, and according to everything I can find, the cost is about $1,000 for the part and a few hours of labor, yet everyone
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 18, 2025It is so easy to say, “Don’t let the negative words and actions of others define you.” When someone says that, I always want to respond sarcastically, “Wow! I never thought of that.” Most of us still carry wounds from our past, often from childhood. We might think they’ve healed, but there is often just enough of an opening for the poison to sneak in
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 17, 2025During the General Assembly, I heard a person use the word “must” and the words “have to” in regard to certain religious ideas and convictions. Words like MUST and HAVE TO are good words for engineers who are building our bridges or scientists who are developing a new vaccine. There are certain areas of our living when we need people to follow the rules and