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
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 13, 2023An author by the name of Solomon Bellow once wrote: “Everyone needs memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” When the Israelites found themselves exiled and far from their beloved Jerusalem, they drew from their memories like a person draws nourishing water from a well. Some say that in times of crisis, people cling to their memories, but our memories are so
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 12, 2023How do you deal with hurtful words? How do you, in the words of my wife, let them roll off you like water off a duck? The staff and I talked about this yesterday during staff meeting, and I had before us the words from 1st Peter 5:7, “Throw all your anxiety onto God, for God cares about you.” How do you throw your anxiety
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJuly 11, 2023Last night, I woke up in a bit of a panic. For more than a minute, I thought it was Saturday night. For a minister, that means Sunday is tomorrow. And of course, I didn’t have a sermon. It’s the minister’s version of the kid having a dream that he walks into a final in a class he’s never attended. I had that dream once