Archive for the ‘Church’ Category

Help Me Teach a Class

Monday, June 12th, 2006

This Sunday night our topic will be Stem Cell Research.  Honestly, my knowledge on this subject is extremely limited. What are your thoughts?  What are our moral obligations to the sick who would benefit from this? How do we proceed and maintain a consistent ethic of human life? What the heck is it, ...

Vacation, Day 2

Monday, May 29th, 2006

We decided to go to Antioch Community Church yesterday.  This is the place that was the home church for Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry back in the day. The sermon was great, but long.  The preacher was beginning a series on all the different generations in their community.  Looked promising. Worship was ...

Vacation Time

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

I've got a week off before I begin the summer series.  We are trying to figure out where to go to church tomorrow. I keep telling Tracy we're going to the Unitarian Universalist church.  They have a special service tomorrow where the minister sits in a rocking chair and people in ...

Thoughts and Observations

Friday, May 19th, 2006

From a year of studying the Old Testament: We often view God as Creator in the past tense.  I'm afraid that we approach those initial 6 days as the totality of His creating.  But there is so much that He is still doing. I'm struck by the cyclization of the Israelite people: ...

Summer Schedule

Thursday, May 11th, 2006

For what it is worth, here is a tentative schedule for what I will be teaching and preaching. Wednesday night will continue to be a period of worship with a devotional thought. Sunday Morning Class—Jewish Culture in the Time of Jesus June 4—Introduction June 11—Second Temple Judaism June 18—Hellenism June 25—The Maccabaean Rebellion July 2—Procurators July 9—The ...

The Transparency of Preaching

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

(Tracy cringes at the thought of me doing a series on preaching, but oh well.  It is what pays the bills.) Moving from Texas to Michigan was a huge change.  I was transitioning from working exclusively with youth to being "the guy."  No longer would I be preaching whenever the pulpit ...

The Risk of Preaching

Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

Back in the day, when I was a youth minister, we found ourselves without a preacher.  We proceeded through a long, arduous process of gathering resumes and interviewing candidates.  I think we phone interviewed over 60 individuals (I told you it was long.) I remember having a "congregational meeting" to interview ...

I Need Your Help

Thursday, May 4th, 2006

So, I am preparing a summer series on dealing with issues that confront us today as Christians.  The idea is to redeem spiritual matters from the myopia of a political view, to look at things as a Christian first before we bring country or party into it. Some of the issues ...

How Did I Get Here, Part 5

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

Or, Transistions When Chloe was born, I knew this: I didn't want to be away from her any more than absolutely necessary. I also knew that I would lay down my life for her.  She exposed me to a depth of love that I had never known before. She was my child.  She ...

How Did I Get Here, Part 4

Monday, April 24th, 2006

Or, Compassionate Conservatism In retrospect, I would like to say that the thoughts and sentiments of Rich Mullins (see previous post) stuck with me, but they did not. A "savior" emerged that offered the restoration of the greatness of America, the reclamation of all that made America good and right and pure, ...