One of my more exciting jobs every week is to come up with something to say on the church sign. You’d be amazed at the people who come in off the street just to say they like the message. I’ll be totally honest and admit that I come up with a lot of ideas from […]
I remember going to a church for an interview, and was put off by what they said about the church down the street: “they’re our competitors,” they said. I was taken aback. Are we really competing with other churches? Aren’t we competing against Satan? I doubt that Kensington Church, Woodside Bible Church, or any of […]
A miracle is when God shows us who He is. The first miracle Jesus ever performed was to turn water into wine, and this showed us who Jesus was. · John 2:11: Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. But […]
Are you still just skimming the surface of what it means to be a Christian? Or can you go deeper in your walk with Christ? What strikes me about the Gospel of John is how deep he goes into who Christ is and how He saves us. John is a great philosopher. Mark’s Gospel depicts […]
How do you picture God? Most of us picture God as an old white man, something like Santa Claus. Perhaps the most famous depiction of God is the one on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, an older, white, bearded guy reaching out to touch humanity, Generally we see in our heads a kind of […]
Every year, at approximately this time, I begin to wonder why it is that I live in Michigan. Winter in Michigan seems to hit us like a ton of icy-cold bricks. In January, in Michigan, you have to get motivated to go outside to take out the trash, let alone brave going to the grocery […]
In my previous congregation, we had a kitchen installed shortly after I came. It was a beautiful kitchen, with new countertops, a high-speed dishwasher that cleaned the coffee cups in five minutes, and an amazing industrial coffee maker that never needed to be filled with water. But when it was installed, there was great resistance […]
Many people come to me in a day with, “now I know you’re busy.” Busy-ness, I would like to contend, is a problem for Christians; I’d even go so far as to call it a sin. Ebeneezer Scrooge, for example, is the epitome of busy-ness: “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said […]
There’s something each of us does every week that can feel like an annoying obligation, but we know we have to do it, so we do. Can you think what it is? No! It’s not going to church! It’s taking out the garbage. Taking out the garbage at my house is especially un-fun because we […]
Today, we are changing lightbulbs in the sanctuary. So I would begin by asking: How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? Nine: seven to form a committee on the changing of the bulb, one to call an electrician, and one to make a casserole. How many Episcopalians does it take to […]