Midweek Muse on Sunday’s Sermon on Mtt. 11:25-30 There are two things that follow from being included into the heart of the Trinity. First, we are called into the very heart of God: held in the arms of Jesus and embraced in the bosom of the Father.  God is love. And so Paul ends that extraordinary eighth chapter of Romans by exulting that nothing, absolutely…

First, remove the plank from your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck of sawdust from your brother’s eye  – Mtt. 7:5 WHOAH!  This is the conclusion we were not  expecting! Who am I to remove any sins from my brother or sister’s eyes? Well, for one thing, your baptism unites you together in bonds that go way beyond…

    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 always be serving up a robust cup…

       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. And in John’s 1st chapter vs. 14…

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 will be glad when His glory is…

     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 the crowd that was walking the trails…

      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: they pull a lever that engages these…

 “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 in jail and we shall still love…

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 righteousness that God credits to us, while…

  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 wonder of God,       and the leading…