Acts 10:1-8Many Christians complain about younger generations' lack of faith. These faithful assume others have no interest in spirituality. They do so because these outsiders have no current interest in church. Yes, there are many people who will not see the truth of Christ. But that doesn't not mean there aren't many more who will in time. In fact, if you speak to younger people, there is already a strong interest in the spiritual.To be sure, there...

 Deuteronomy 9:1-5I often recall the words from one of my bishops. Years ago, our conference set itself to pursue some ministry initiative. Funny enough, I don't recall what the task was. But I do remember the commissioning the bishop gave to those who were to lead the effort. He asked the group to seek a vision so big and audacious that we would have to trust God to make it happen. We would have no choice but to seek God at every point.Whether the group...

 Luke 17:1-5There's a back and forth strain within the conversation of faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is a personal, strong conviction in what you believe about who God is and what God has done through Jesus. Your faith is what you believe.But it is also more than what you believe. Faith is also what you do with what you believe.Jesus prepared his disciples to lead those who chose...

 1 Corinthians 11:17-22Communion can be one of those practices that causes great division in the church. Sounds absurd, doesn't it? But across faith traditions how we practice communion is important. So important we argue with each other and even break communion with each other. Now, it's easy to discount the whys and hows of a different tradition. Before you do that, make sure you understand their theological approach to communion.The apostle Paul addressed...

 Genesis 33:1-17In worship this weekend, I referred to the story of Joseph reuniting with his brothers. It had been years since they sold him into slavery. A lot had happened in Joseph's life. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows fill his story. When he could no longer contain himself, the trap he designed turned into a family reunion. My comment was that our weekly gatherings are somewhat of a reunion as well. We've had ups and downs during the...

 Genesis 44:1-17Recently, I preached a sermon that seemed to surprise a few people. What surprised them was the political nature of the sermon. Here's the funny thing. I didn't think it was political. At least not in the way people seemed to think. I didn't mention any politician or any political party. I did highlight a glaring disparity between how we view the rich and the poor. But that's hard not to do if you're preaching from Luke's account of the...

 Psalm 37:1-11A backfire is a technique to help prevent the spread of a wildfire. As I understand it, firefighters start a new fire in the path of an approaching wildfire. The goal is for the new fire to consume fire fuel the already blazing inferno would use to continue to spread. That weakens the approaching fire. In a sense, this is fighting fire with fire.As you can imagine, though, a backfire can be dangerous. A quick change in wind direction easily...

 Psalm 120"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That's the singsong lie we repeated as kids. I don't recall how much we ever believed that or not. But I'm sure we knew the truth. Words can hurt. They do hurt. They hurt us as children who get made to feel unworthy or unloved. And they sting the ego and confidence of many adults just the same.And yet we know words can bring life as well. After all, we are a people that cling...

2 Corinthians 1:12-19Yesterday, after worship, a young saint told me she was going to Walmart to buy a guitar. I told her how excited I was that she was going to learn how to play. She corrected me. She was going to buy the guitar because "that man showed us how to play."A church member joined the children's class, ukulele in hand. He showed them the sounds of the instrument and taught them how to sing along to "Jesus Loves Me." That lesson inspired my young...

 Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube Monday: The Cookie CrumbleScripture: Matthew 6:25-34Reflect on how Jesus’ words often contradict what the world sees as wisdom. Consider your reactions when encountering a piece of wisdom that challenges your comfort zone. This week’s sermon challenges us to not treat Jesus’ words as mere platitudes.Reflection Questions:Are there moments when you reduce Jesus’ teachings to mere “sweet sayings” rather than transformative...

 1 Peter 1:17-2:1One of the hopes of the epistle of 1 Peter is to encourage Christians to maintain their faith in Jesus. They had already endured through struggle and hardship related to their Christian convictions. It's quite likely they would do so again. Suffering would be a familiar cadence.Peter recognizes that "various trials" had already landed weary blows (1 Peter 1:6). Still, the message is to rejoice. He insists that Christians reorient their...

 Acts 13:26-34Reading your Bible daily is a luxury many Christians have not had. Even today. More than half of the world's languages don't have a complete Bible translation. I'm convinced we take for granted the gift we have of the biblical text. You and I have access to every translation of the Bible available. We can choose the prettiest covers or the font size that helps you see better. You can buy a Bible at the dollar store or do a Google...

 Luke 5:27-32Whether it's in film or another form of storytelling, we all fill in the blanks of the Bible. Think about when we tell of Jesus choosing his disciples. We realize we don't know much about them. Gospel accounts may offer information about their vocation. Particular names may appear so much that we draw conclusions about their attitudes and personalities. But that's all we can do.Take Levi (Matthew) as an example. What does Luke tell us about...

 Psalm 115In Psalm 115, the psalmist appeals to God's sense of credibility. That is, because of God's steadfast love and faithfulness, other nations shouldn't question God. Why should they question God's presence and power? After all, the psalmist goes on to say, they follow idols made from human hands. These idols make no sense because they have no sense. Crafted from silver and gold, they only sit in place. The psalmist confronts the idol worship of...

 Listen on Spotify Day 1: Responding to the Unexpected Scripture: Luke 5:1-5 Devotional:In our busy lives, we often encounter situations that are unexpected. Just as Peter was cleaning up after a long, unsuccessful day, Jesus entered with a request that seemed absurd. Yet, Peter listened and responded with, "If you say so." Sometimes, God asks us to step out of our routines and comfort zones. When we listen and respond to God's call, even when...

Judges 5:1-11"You can't be great without the greatness of others." If you know me, you know I didn't miss last night's game. My team won and, of course, we celebrated. I even watched the post game interviews for fun. That's where I heard that quote from our head coach.You hear a lot of clichés in sports. But that quote stuck with me because right before the game I read the passage for today's devotional. Yes, even as I cheered on my team, I was reflecting...

Acts 9:26-31When the Lord allowed Moses to see the land given to the Israelites, Moses asked God to appoint a new leader. His successor, Joshua, would be someone "who shall go out before them and come in before them" (Numbers 27:17). In scripture, that is a sign of leadership and authority. The young king, Solomon, asked God for "wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people" (2 Chronicles 1:10). In the 1 Kings 3 version of that story, Solomon...

 Acts 9:19-22In high school, I had a math teacher that wrote a quote on the chalkboard every day. He wanted to give us an encouraging or challenging message to think about when we came to his class. I'll confess there were many days I focused on that side of the board and not the equations he wrote on the other side. Each day's quote came from familiar sources. In quoting them, he taught us names of world leaders, famous philosophers and masterful artists....

Today, I attended commissioners court. Usually when I'm there, it's to offer an invocation. This time, though, I went for another reason. One of our church members recently retired from the county after more than three decades. That person worked with the same judge throughout their career. Along with another retiring employee, our church member spoke a few words about working for the county and what they looked forward to next. Then the retiring judge spoke....

 Luke 19:41-44An Episcopal bishop addressed specific hopes during a recent homily. That the hopes carried strong political overtones surprised many people. Quite frankly, many took offense. This homily garnered much attention since its setting was the inaugural prayer service. I won't say the sermon sparked debate. Much of what I've read isn't debate but spewing. There's no dialogue. There's no listening to what each other has to say. Many of us are not...