My text this week is Mark 1:9-15, familiar to many of us as the wilderness testing of Jesus after his baptism. It reads: 9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn …
A Monument to Waste
On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, Elon Musk took one small leap for fame and one giant leap towards becoming the poster child of our age. According to reports, his giant PR stunt involved shooting a model of his new Roadster to Mars. I suppose Elon's point was for the Roadster to remain in orbit as …
A Leper Like Us
My reading for this week is Mark 1:40-45. It reads: 40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and …
Truth In Service To Mammon
Like most of America, I watched the Super Bowl last night. I had fun with my family, and it was kind of funny to watch how excited my 13 year old son got after every big play. I suppose being a father comes with a rather strange set of perks. While I enjoyed the game, …
Healing, Resurrection and New Life III
In my last post, I suggested that Mark 1:29-39 was a proto-Gospel, a small window narrative that illustrates how Jesus comes into relation with us and has us participate in the power of the kingdom that eventually raises him from the dead, and will raise us on the final day. But the nagging question is …
Healing, Resurrection and New Life II
In my last post, I came to the conclusion regarding Mark 1:29-39 that: Healing points to resurrection, resurrection to rebirth, rebirth as new life free from the bondage of our minds and our bodies to sin and decay. (Romans 8:21) There are a couple of other ways to develop the passage that are quite interesting. When …
Healing, Resurrection and New Life
My Scripture reading for today was Mark 1: 29-39. As I read it, I found myself applying the same old tired categories that I often assign familiar passages. It's a healing story. A miracle. Jesus proclaims a kingdom that is breaking into the world now, and the evidence is found in the battle he does …
Peace Amidst Despair
It should come as no surprise to folks that the job of being a pastor is pretty stressful. Interestingly, being a minister was wedged between being an assisted living coordinator and marriage counselor in a recent CNN article. If only the writer of the article had understood that we often have ample opportunity to do those jobs …
Dead dogs, Authority and Jesus
The famous theologian Karl Barth once wrote: “God may speak to us through Russian Communism, a flute concerto, a blossoming shrub, or a dead dog.” (CD, Volume 1, Book 1, Section 55) I always thought Barth was joking (he kind of was), but today I understood the reality. But first, let's think about the question …
The Death of Death
In light of some recent happenings in the congregation, I once again come back to that very famous poem by John Donne:
Samuel Weddington 