ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 27, 2022Prayer for the Week: Where have I seen you in recent days, O God? Where have you been present to me amidst frustration and heartache? Where are you, and why is it that I do not know of your presence? My faith tells me to trust and know that you are God, but there are times when it does not come easily. So in this
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 26, 2022What does it mean to love as Jesus loved? If your answer to that question has stayed the same for more than a few months, I would invite you to revisit it. I’d say the same thing to a married couple. In fact, how I’d define love for my wife today is very different than how I would have defined love twenty years ago. Not
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 25, 2022Is the message Jesus shared with the world specifically defined and rigid, or is it a message that is forever evolving and growing? Did Jesus want us to take his exact thoughts and impose them without question upon every future generation? Or are we to wrestle with the contextual meaning of those ideas as we seek to apply them in our current reality? These are
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 24, 2022Why did Jesus say nothing about homosexuality? I don’t believe any of us can answer the question with complete confidence, but it wasn’t because Jesus had no knowledge of such things. In fact, homosexuality was a known reality in the ancient Roman World. Jesus did seem to say something about healthy interactions between people, and he expressed concern when one person or group exercised unhealthy
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 23, 2022I think we’ve all had the experience of standing on the outside looking in. As kids, at least at some point, most of us were not a part of the In Crowd. We might have tried to save up money to buy the newest pair of cool jeans, only to discover that by the time we could afford them, they were on their way out
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 22, 2022There are always going to be events and happenings that cause stress and anxiety. I’d like to tell you how to create an entirely stress-free world in three easy steps, but I do not believe such an approach exists. There is probably someone who has written a book on the topic, and there might be some exceptional suggestions found in its pages, but creating an
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 21, 2022Decisions are made in seats of power, some political, some religious, and these decisions are often harmful to those who have little or no power. The irrational rationalization of many such decisions is to protect good, wholesome people from those who seek to impose their immoral or violent agendas, but the irrational rationalization is not well disguised to anyone who is willing to ask serious
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 20, 2022Prayer for the Week:I feel lost but you know where I amI run away but there is no place away from youI am alone but I am forever accompanied by youHoly One comfort me in your eternal grace reassure me through your infinite mercy enliven me with your limitless loveThere is no place I can go where you have not forever existedMay this provide me
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 19, 2022Today is Juneteenth! I first learned of Juneteenth back in Jr. High from a teacher who wanted us to know the parts of history not always taught. It was probably about the time Texas (I was living in Nebraska at the time) became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. For anyone who might not know the history of Juneteenth (sometimes called Jubilee
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJune 18, 2022Tomorrow, I am continuing our look at the Book of Acts, but I’m leaping ahead just a bit to a story from Paul’s journey to Philippi. My preparation for the sermon has taken me back to my trip to Greece a few years ago, specifically the part of the trip to Thessaloniki and Philippi. According to the story in Acts 16, Paul and Silas were