missing a meal we have several mangers on our mantle nativities from around the world as though everyone showed up at once the Magi made the effort to bring incense and offerings; the shepherds came crashing in with stories of angels, but no one brought anything to eat (and that’s what manger means in French)…
I was born two weeks before Jesus. Since I had a December birthday, my mother worked hard to make sure it didn’t get lost in our Christmas celebration. She didn’t put up any decorations until December 13, the day after I was born. My father had some unexplained need for all of the decorations to…
When I was a boy living in Lusaka, Zambia, one of our neighbors was an American woman who had a large German Shepherd named Tammy. The dog was trained to sit in the middle of the front yard and look and sound menacing, since the woman was frightened of people who didn’t look like her….
I preached at my church yesterday. The sermon is short because it was a New Member Sunday and we had twenty-two people join. Here’s what I said. _______________________________ There is a tradition in poetry of the “found poem,” which is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other…
I want to say something before the votes are counted. I want to say out loud that my hope is not defined by those who make the most noise or create the most confusion. I want to share the words of those who are speaking to my despair, who feed my hope, who remind me…
Just in time for the holiday season, my publisher has given me the chance to buy my books at a deep discount for the next couple of weeks. So I am offering them here for $7 each at my Facebook Shop. I am happy to sign them before I mail them out. You just have…
I preached again this week at North Madison Congregational Church. The lectionary passages— Mark 9:33-37 and James 3:13-18—hit particularly close to home this week. Here is what I had to say. __________________________ As you may have gleaned from the personal information I have shared over our time together, though I have been ordained a long…
I preached at North Madison Congregational Church again last Sunday. The text was Mark 8:27-38, a passage that offers new things any time I read it. Here is my sermon. __________________________ When the gospel writers began to put the stories down on parchment, many years after Jesus had ascended, they seem to have organized them…
I preached this week at United Churches of Durham, Connecticut, as a part of their Summer Preaching Series. My text was James 1:17-27. ____________________ When I read our passage from James this week, the first thing that came to mind for me was Broadway show tunes. Am I right? No? Well, let me explain. When…
I preached last Sunday at North Madison Congregational Church UCC—my first time to preach there. I drew from two passages, Ephesians 6:10-20 and 1 Samuel 17:31-40, both of them having to do with armor. —————————- I have to start this morning with two confessions. The first is that I have never found much use for…