There’s coffee, and then there’s coffee.  There are places that add coffee to their menu and then there are Coffee Shops that specialize in it. Even where they serve good coffee, you can get a bad cup once in a while.     The same is true of Christianity. It’s not monolithic. They may not…

       Why the theme of GLORY for ADVENT? Am I forcing it on the Christmas season?Isaiah 40:5, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” is, in fact, the Christmas story.  It is the Christmas message.  The birth of Christ was the revelation of the glory of the Lord, just as Isaiah had promised.…

In the midst of suffering, Peter tells us “Those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust themselves to our faithful creator” , tthat is, Peter say to treat God as God. God is infinitely wise and glorious beyond our understanding.       And then there are all the references to “glory” – Rejoice that you…

     Sherry and I spent several days exploring new sites in our nation’s capitol last weekend. We drove out to Great Falls on the Potomac. It’s a national park with wooded trails and rocky outcroppings overlooking the mighty Falls with really spectacular views.        But even more spectacular was the view of tremendous diversity of…

      Have you seen one of these front-end loaders that dig a trench down the center of the street to lay pipe? One has been working over on Colonial Ave. in front of the Community College lately. Do you know the first thing they do before they ever start digging? It’s really cool:…

 “Loving Your Enemies” was a sermon written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  while he was in jail for the Montgomery bus boycott. This is an excerpt from that most excellent sermon:      “To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘…Do to us what you will and we shall continue to love you. Throw us…

I want to be found in HIm, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. – Phil. 3:9 The righteousness that is by FAITH, is an ‘alien righteousness’  Luther said, it is a…

  1. Because Jesus is dangerous – where did we get the idea He would fit easily into our       worlds? or like a cell phone into our back pocket?   2. Because we are losing wonder, mystery, adventure, risk as our lives become louder,      faster and shallower.   Our busyness has anesthetized us to the…

This is what Jesus is praying for us: Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind. As long as I was with them, I guarded them in the pursuit of the…

God’s power made perfect in our weakness – what does that look like? What does the power of holiness look like dressed-up in ordinary lives of grace?        “Summon the heros!”  Here they are. These are the ‘powerful ones.’           The RELENTLESS POWER of LOVE  the strongest power in the universe; nothing can stand against;…