I had a great experience visiting Bivens Chapel at the Marshall Building. Though it is no longer PU, it was a space full of memories. I don’t know if I appreciate the power of memory like I should. A
Blaise Pascal wrote, “I have made this letter longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” How many clergy (including myself) could learn something from Blaise when it comes to sermon preparation?
Scripture: Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Thought for the Day: You think you’ve had a bad day, just read Psalm 27. Here is someone who is having all kinds of problems, yet these words of encouragement are a call to trust in the Lord. The Hebrew word we translate, to be strong, conveys an unyielding
In the early 1900’s, S. Matthews (theologian) wrote: “If it is more blessed to give than to receive, then most of us are content to let the other fellow have the greater blessing.” Not that it should be a competition, but how often do you reflect at the end of the day and say to yourself, ‘I got myself trounced in the giving department’? Maybe it’s just me…
Ecclesiological Etchings: 07-06-12
Once again, Christian Piatt offers comfortable Christians something on which to chew. The pithy sayings among Christ-centered followers have become the insider’s handshake, yet so many of these catchy phrases cause confusion and convey lousy theology. I can’t say which one among his list is more troubling from my standpoint, but it might be “Jesus died for your sins”. The whole
Scripture: Galatians 5:13For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. Thought for the Day: Are you a risk-taker? Are you willing to stop micromanaging and allow a situation to play itself out? To be honest, I’m not so good at that. I often like to keep a hand
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. ~Adlai Stevenson Christians should celebrate this kind of freedom, for true faith thrives only where there is an opportunity to choose something other than faith.
Scripture: Psalm 92:1-4It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for
Rita Nakashima Brock writes in her book, Journeys By Heart: “Sin is a sign of our broken-heartedness, of how damaged we are, not of how evil, willfully disobedient, and culpable we are…Sin is not something to be punished, but something to be healed.”
Scripture: Proverbs 16:24Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. Thought for the Day: There was a group of pastors I used to meet with on Wednesday morning for breakfast. I was the small fish among some of the big pastoral fishes in town, and I appreciated that time. On more than one occasion, one of the other pastors would say