ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 15, 2024Again and again, surveys seem to indicate that clergy are not perceived as ethical and honest by the general public. Nurses are always at the top of the list, along with dentists, teachers, and veterinarians. Despite my profession’s poor numbers, we do remain above politicians and car salespeople. But it sometimes feels like a race to mediocrity. Even more troubling is how the poor grade
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 14, 2024I was driving down Ella Blvd. on Monday in the area of Klein Collins High School. What I saw in the parking lot of the high school brought a rush of memories to my mind. The marching band was rehearsing formations. I don’t know how long they had been practicing that day, but years ago, we would have two rehearsals each day in the weeks
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 13, 2024Now some people might say that I am getting political with what I’m about to write, but I do not believe I am being political when I talk about a core theological principle that has far-reaching implications. The whole thing about the 10 Commandments in classrooms is, in my opinion, utter nonsense. First, no child has ever been inspired to change his/her ways because of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 12, 2024Prayer for the Week: Young and old and everywhere in between—there are people returning to the classroom, some as students and some as educators. O Wisdom of Life, open the heavens and pour forth your creativity, a hunger for knowledge, an exuberant curiosity, a yearning for difficult questions, and an equal passion to explore those questions. Jesus, the Rabbi, never reached for the easy answers,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 11, 2024In today’s sermon, I am focusing on Tamar, the one mentioned in Genesis, but there is another woman named Tamar who is part of a horrific story in 2 Samuel 13. This Tamar was raped by her brother, Amnon, one of the sons of King David. Sadly, this story becomes a story of the anger between two brothers and their father David’s grief when one
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 10, 2024Why church? This is a question that has come my way many times, and once again, it was brought to me by someone who was genuinely seeking to understand. For those of us who have been doing church all or most of our lives, and for those of us who have sort of made it our profession, sometimes the WHY seems so obvious that it
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 9, 2024This coming Sunday, we will conclude the series on Jesus and his Ancestors. The sermon will specifically focus on Tamar (there are actually three of them mentioned in scripture), but I will play around with the notion of righteousness. It is one of those Bible words that gets tossed around a lot but is not defined well. And though I just wrote about eight sentences
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 8, 2024I am currently in NW Arkansas, visiting my father-in-law. He’s had some health concerns lately, though he’s doing ok right now. It’s still hard to be so far away from people we love, especially when they are experiencing challenges. We experienced this with my mother, and I know many of you reading this have your own stories. In fact, some of you may find yourself
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 7, 2024Have you been watching the Olympics? Like most Olympic years, I have not caught as much as I would have liked, though replays are available online. There have been some rather embarrassing so-called controversies that have been shown to have not been controversies. Like so often, some folks fanned the flames of outrage only to discover there was a lot of fake smoke without even
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 6, 2024In Deuteronomy 11:1, we read: “You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always.” I love God, but I don’t know if I’ll ALWAYS be able to keep the divine charges, decrees, ordinances, and commandments. The word ‘always’ makes me nervous, as I don’t know if I am capable of even hitting 85%…maybe 70%—on