Prayer for September 1, 2020: Please pray with me. God of transformation, do we really understand what that means? We get really attached to our buildings and our structures. We get really attached to the way we’ve always done it. But that’s not the point is it? Our institutions,...

There are plenty of articles on why the church is in decline. These can be interesting and even informative. They range from churches being out of touch in their messaging, to being too political, to being too worldly, to being too cloistered, to taking a stand for something, to...

So, I’m having some trouble with my video downloader right now. Which means that in order to watch the Stroll through Scripture, you’ll need to click on the link below. Sorry for the inconvenience. Which leads me to my next point – anyone have a recommendation on video downloaders?...

(Below is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. You can listen to the sermon from the church website – www.ststephenlc.org) Did you know that there is a long history of the Bible being abused and used as a weapon of control?  Did you know that slave owners...

Prayer for August 28, 2020: Please pray with me. God of the nations, why do we try to restrict you? Why do insist that faith in you is only a private matter? Is that an excuse that allows us to accommodate injustice? Is that some kind of spin that...

In America, we value the individual. Individualism is a core principle of American idealism. We proclaim a message of rugged individualism. We value individual freedom and personal choices. We praise the individuals who have overcome great odds and succeed (however that is defined). We like to think that when...

Prayer for August 27, 2020: Please pray with me. God who makes us and forms us, we are made in your image and likeness. Why do we so quickly assume that only applies to us and us alone? Why do we have difficulty seeing that in others – especially...

Where does our identity derive from? If I were to ask you to describe yourself, what would you say? Would you talk about what you? Your family unit? Your heritage or culture? Your political party identification or belief? A religious identity? What? There are many different identities in our...

Prayer for August 26, 2020: Please pray with me.  Incarnate God who walks among us, would we recognize you?  Would we?  Or would we see you and tell you how wrong you are about everything?  Would we tell you why you are wrong to feed hungry people?  Would we argue that they just needed...

(Here’s another snippet from the book I’m working on- “The Tired Christian.”  It comes from chapter 3.  Enjoy!) If Jesus were incarnate today, walking around America, proclaiming his message, living the way he called on us to live – would he be welcomed, or would we execute him again?   Jesus’s message...