TEXT Psalm 48 A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within its citadels God has shown himself a sure defence.Then the kings assembled, they came … Continue reading Bible Leads: Psalm 48
I can only think of one good reason to not preach on the Charleston shootings: you can’t think of anything to say. Maybe you had exhausted all the things you could say after Ferguson or Staten Island or Baltimore, or Trayvon Martin or Tamir Rice. I understand. I don’t quite condone it, since speaking to the sins of the world is part of the preacher’s … Continue reading On Not Preaching about Charleston
This is part of a series I’m writing about My Dream Church. My Dream Church is a Cafe Church (not a church with a cafe). See the Introduction here. My Dream Church is a Cafe Church called Perkatory. This is not a church with a cafe, but a cafe that is a church. The cafe serves as a central element to the rest of the church. … Continue reading Perkatory: Community Context of My Dream Church
TEXT Mark 5:21-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands … Continue reading Bible Leads: Mark 5:21-43
A letter to my to-be-third-born, lost in utero last month. Dear Camille, Thank you. Thank you for doing what you did, even by just being for a short amount of time. You shook off of me a great deal of complacency and shone a light on my life. You showed me my frustration and dissatisfaction. Through this revelation, I have discovered my gifts and have … Continue reading For Camille, a Thanksgiving, May you Rest in Peace and Never Know Hatred
Bible Leads is a rendering of my sermon preparation: researching facts & cross-references, drawing up connections through personal experiences, art and music and discerning the essence of the text. Text Mark 4:35-41 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just … Continue reading Bible Leads: Mark 4:35-41
Bible Leads is a rendering of my sermon preparation: researching facts & cross-references, drawing up connections through personal experiences, art and music and discerning the essence of the text. Text Mark 4:26-34 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he … Continue reading Bible Leads: Mark 4:26-34
Bible Leads is a rendering of my sermon preparation: researching facts & cross-references, drawing up connections through personal experiences, art and music and discerning the essence of the text. Text 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the … Continue reading Bible Leads: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Around the corner from our house, in the part of town that still farms, there is a farm. We drive up the hill next to it on our way home from preschool. Right now there are big homemade signs all around the property: STRAWBERRIES. Our family knows it as a marionberry farm too, where in August we can get a bucket of marionberries fresh off … Continue reading Marionberries and Congregational Development Mumbo Jumbo in the United Methodist Church (a working title)
Bible Leads is a rendering of my sermon preparation: researching facts & cross-references, drawing up connections through personal experiences, art and music and discerning the essence of the text. Text Acts 2:1-13 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the … Continue reading Bible Leads: Acts 2:1-13 Pentecost
