on July 31, 2012 by
"Tackling Tough Topics" During the month of July 2012, I did a sermon series entitles "Tackling Tough Topics" and preached on Church State Relations, Creation & Evolution, Biblical Authority, Gender & Sexuality, ... read post
on June 12, 2012 by
Blessed Be... In worship a few Sundays ago, the Chancel Choir sang a beautiful anthem that to my mind in the moment said a prayer I had for all my parishioners - that such sords might be able to be said about them. Here ... read post
on March 10, 2012 by
KONY – 2012 Jason Russell, part of our extended church family through our nursery school is doing something remarkable. He is attempting to alter history by doing something really, really good. And he’s sounding a call for ... read post
on January 10, 2012 by
"Becoming Our Best" I just started a sermon series entitled "Beconing Our Best." Last Sunday I spoke on Vision. The next four weeks I will address the topics of Devotion, Learning, Relationships, and ... read post
on December 31, 2011 by
Happy New Year Here's a delightful poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, celebrating the coming of the New Year. May this new year be one with more peace and prosperity for all. "Ring Out, Wild Bells!" Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, the ... read post
on December 07, 2011 by
"Occupy ..." There has been a powerful social movement sweeping our country using the banner of "Occupy Wall Street" that is trying to give voice to those who feel left behind in our society. In light of the policy ... read post
on December 07, 2011 by
"Connecting to the Culture" I was treated to an evening of threatre this week at the La Jolla Playhouse. They are running the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar." It was a delight and ... read post
on November 21, 2011 by
“Taking Care of Our Children” As the news of child abuse unfolds from the campuses of Penn State and Syracuse, we are all saddened for the victims and more than a bit ... read post
on September 18, 2011 by
This week I was invited by the UMW to be the program at their fall INterest Group gathering. I spoke about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and shared some reasons why so many of us felt drawn into the ... read post
on September 18, 2011 by
"Grace Not Karma - Bono" In today's sermon on the on the beginning of the spiritual journey, that first stage of dawning religious consciousness, I quoted Bono, from U2. In the passage, he speaks of how Grace up-ends Karma, and he finds ... read post
on September 15, 2011 by
"Israeli/Palestinian Conflict" Today at the UMW Interest Group meeting, I had the opportunity to speak about our trip to the Holy Land. Members of our church did this trip through Educational Opportunities near the start of this year. ... read post
on August 15, 2011 by
Effective Churches - Faithful Members Robert Schnase writes these words in his book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations: “Churches embrace newcomers with a sustaining sense of belonging when they practice Christ’s Radical ... read post
Directions For Singing I am giving a sermon series on learn our faith as we sing our faith, and I made reference to Wesley's advice on singing. Here it is as appearing on page vii in the United Methodist Hymnal, written by Wesley in ... read post
on July 12, 2011 by
We're Not Letting Go of the Woodstock Album When have you reached the age to pass on the albums or books of your formative years? I think it can come most any year. For me, it's now. Deb's mom passed on and we are glad to move ... read post
on July 12, 2011 by
Sex, drugs, and Rock n Roll Yea, all right, pretty stupid title. Yet I was watching tv the other night and it dawned on me that most everything I see nowadays revolves around sex, food, and power. Not exactly what we heralded in the ... read post
on June 06, 2011 by
The Power of Evil Reading about the capture of Ratko Mladic, a long sought after war criminal from the Balkin Wars of the 1990s, my wife asked me “Why does it seem so easy to mobilize so many people to do evil when it is so hard to ... read post
on June 06, 2011 by
Fall from Grace Jim Tressel’s fall from grace, as head coach of the storied Ohio State football program, must have startled and disappointed all but the most jaded collegiate football fan. For years, Tressel had been widely seen ... read post
on June 02, 2011 by
Acts of God There has been a overwhelming number of weather catastrophes this spring. Tornadoes, heavy rains and floods, earthquakes ... used to be people called these "acts of God." Newsweek has an article this week entitled "Weather ... read post
on May 19, 2011 by
Hurry Ruins Saints It's a sentiment written on a refrigerator magnet I saw in a small religious book store one day. My eyes were drawn to the interesting graphics, yet my mind got wrapped up in the words. Hurry Ruins Saints. ... read post
on May 16, 2011 by
OMG: Even the Presbyterians! So now the Presbyterians have decided to ordain gays. They add their denominational name (though local Southern Californian Presbyterians are as conservative as they come) to the list of ... read post
on May 03, 2011 by
Got a facebook posting from a clergy friend talking about his feeling of “being conflicted” over seeing Americans out on the street cheering the killing of Osama bin Laden. Glad that bin Laden couldn't kill anyone else; proud of ... read post
on May 01, 2011 by
“I am sorry they took offense at what I said.” That is the common apology these days. The person does not apologize for what they said, they apologize that the hearers took it the way they did and got offended. ... read post
on April 26, 2011 by
On our Holy Land Trip we had the most interesting experience. One of the owners of the store we were about to enter was a friend of the guide, so upon the guide’s request, he had agreed to talk to us as we sat on the bus awaiting our ... read post
on April 23, 2011 by
The thing about crowds is that you can lose your individual identity and your sense of personal power, and find yourself getting caught up in the group’s emotions, moving along toward the group’s purposes. Gangs know this, the ... read post
on April 19, 2011 by
Reading Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, I was saddened to learn that a whole generation or two in America has grown up finding these words expressive of their perception of ... read post