What are You Doing With What You have been Given?

Scripture Passage – Matthew 25:14-30 Description – 2nd part of 2 part series on “Using What God Has Given You.”
I begin this morning where I left off last Sunday, with this quote from Richard Stearns: (Slide 1) “Someone once said, “God does not call the equipped; He equips the called.” Saying that we are [...]

Reflections on failure

Back in the 80’s it seemed many books had titles begin with ‘A Theology of…’ For a while now, I have thought someone needs to write a book (or article) with the words ‘A Theology of Failure,’ in it.
Well, I almost titled this blog post ‘Toward a Theology of Failure.’ But, as I began to [...]

Quote of the Week

I subscribe to a weekly e-mail post from the Merton Institute and this week’s post spoke personally to me as I continue to workout God’s direction for me at this stage and season of life.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our [...]

The Necessity and Responsibility of Freedom

Scripture Passage – John 8:12
Description – Communion meditation for Sunday, July 5, 2009
In January 1941, when the flames of war were consuming Europe and the Far East, President Roosevelt addressed Congress. In that address, he said some things about freedom that has echoed down through the years.
The address, now known as the “Four Freedoms” [...]

Reflections on being un-employed

The preparation for my involvement today at a community resource fair with another member of my community for those unemployed, brought back the memories and feelings of what it was like to become one of those stats mentioned on a monthly basis in the media.
Though it was 17 years ago at this time, the feelings [...]

Healthy Heart Habits

Scripture Passage – 1 Corinthians 13:7
Description – The Sixth and Final Sermon in a post-Easter series on Love.
I begin this morning with this question…
(Slide 1) How healthy is your heart? I am speaking on two levels right now – the physical and the spiritual.
What do you know about your heart? That is, your physical heart?
From [...]

Quote and Question of the Week for May 18, 2009

I am currently reading Tom Holladay’s book, The Relationship Principles of Jesus. I will write a review of it later. Tom is on staff at Saddleback Church and the book is written in a 40-Day style and is reminiscent of The Purpose Driven Life.
Day 23’s meditation is about hypocrisy and at the end of the [...]

Question of the Week

In a wonderful post at thechristiancentury.org, Blest Be The Ties That Bind, Rodney Clapp writes about the fracturing of the Episcopal Church. And in the midst of this discussion he asks a wonderful question that stopped me in my tracks and caused me to think about my relationship to my congregation as a member/pastor.
Notes Clapp, [...]

Further thinking about my beliefs of life and ministry

A major theme of contemporary Christian writing and publishing has to do with one’s mission/passion. What is it? Where has/is God called/calling me to serve? What is my passion for ministry/service/witness? And, having gone through a very good professional development program from 2005-2008 called SHAPE (Sustaining Pastoral Health and Excellence created by the Lilly Endowment), [...]

The Patience of Love

Scripture Passage – Luke 10:30-37
Description – The third sermon of a post-Easter series on Love
(Slide 1) Impatience…
What comes to mind when you read that word? Or you hear it? Or you see it in action? Or personally experience it?
The late W.H. Auden wrote, “Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience [...]