Did you ever run away as a kid? How far did you get before a parent or neighbor or sibling discovered your hiding place, or your cache of peanut butter sandwiches and cookies ran out and hunger drove you back to your mother’s well-stocked pantry? ...
There is so, so much that preachers are not taught in seminary. Don’t get me wrong—I loved my seminary experience and I learned a ton—about theology and scripture, preaching and worship, pastoral care and the sacraments. I use my theological education every day, and I...
On Sunday I will begin a new sermon series on the book of Exodus. Exodus tells the story of Moses who is to the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) what Jesus is to the New Testament: the dominating figure, the man whose story must be...
Forty is an important number in the Bible. In the story of Noah, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tested and later, he appeared to...
Have you ever had a day that goes nothing at all like you planned? Not a single thing that you thought you were going to accomplish gets done. At bedtime, your “to do” list looks exactly like it did at breakfast. That’s the kind of...
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. I doubt it could have slipped your mind, as the greeting card companies and florists spend a lot of advertising dollars making sure we don’t forget it. But, just in case, consider yourself duly notified. There are a lot of reasons...
As is our custom, the Sunday after Easter is Be the Kingdom Sunday at Calvary. The entire church gathers for worship at the normal time and place, but then disperses in groups to serve our community. We worship that day by being the church, being...
Over the past several months, we have been introducing four “keys” to nurturing the faith of your children and grandchildren. Experts in the field of faith development have honed in on four practices that, when embedded into your family’s routines, will help parents to notice...
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! We had a glorious celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, and I trust yours was, too. The sanctuary was beautifully adorned with Easter lilies, spring bulbs in pink, purple and yellow bloom, and white paraments—cloth coverings for the...
As I sit at my desk writing and working this morning, I hear our church organist in the background practicing for Sunday’s Easter service. If you can’t be inspired by the strains of Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Thine Is the Glory, and The Hallelujah...