During Lent at Calvary, I did a sermon series on the Beatitudes, those immortal lines that open Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This week we picked up where we left off on Palm Sunday. We will be continuing our journey through Jesus’ famous sermon for...
I don’t remember hearing the word “community” used or talked about very much as I was growing up. Even during college and later, as I launched into adulthood, I recall the emphasis being primarily about the individual, and that was true whether the issue at...
Someday I really should write a book detailing some of the remarkable experiences that happen to me as a pastor. Part of it, of course, is perspective. It has been said that we can either live as if nothing in life is a miracle or...
We had such an amazing day last week and these photos really do tell the story. Our projects included: Garden project at the elementary school next door Nursing home visit and singalong Making sandwiches for the homeless Packing hygiene kits for Presbyterian Disaster Relief Stuffing "Mended Heart" pillows for heart surgery patients Trash...
We had a glorious Easter Sunday service at Calvary, as I hope you did wherever you are. This Sunday we are putting into practice what we proclaimed on Easter: we are being resurrection people by serving our neighbors in very concrete and practical ways. We...
Friends, A couple of years ago one of my colleagues shared a prayer with me that I have now read and re-read dozens of times. While it is a prayer specifically on behalf of pastors, I think it offers something for everyone as we celebrate Easter...
Holy Week commences in just three days with the observance of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to begin the annual Jewish festival of Passover. It was to be his last Passover, of course. He entered the Royal City to...
Friends, I need to make a confession. The Beatitudes are kicking my butt. There, I’ve said it. I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Jesus has this irritating, nasty habit of ripping to shreds all the masks I so carefully construct,...
I have no discernible athletic ability. I go to the gym most mornings and suffer through enough cardio to keep reasonably healthy. For many moons I kept waiting and hoping I’d begin to enjoy working out, like some of my gym mates seem to do....
In his book Everything Belongs, Franciscan priest Richard Rohr opens with a short reflection he calls “Inherent Unmarketability.” Here’s what he says: How do you make attractive that which is not? How do you sell emptiness, vulnerability, and nonsuccess? How do you talk descent when everything is about...