As we celebrate the 241st birthday of the United States of America, and the 131st birthday of the Statue of Liberty, a special gift from the Republic of France, it would be fascinating to hear what Lady Liberty would say to our nation on this...
Have you ever had to go to Plan B? You had “Plan A” for your life all figured out…but, things didn’t turn out the way you planned? I asked this question in a sermon recently, and a woman approached me after the service and said,...
I’ve seen the quote below making the rounds on the internet this Pentecost season and it’s quite striking. It’s excerpted from a presentation that Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Ignatius of Latakia (port city in Syria, historically known as Laodicea) delivered before the World Council of Churches...
Can I ask you a personal question? And be totally honest. Do you think of yourself as a successful person? And, more importantly, what criteria do you use to measure success? In other words, how do you spell success? I ask this question because society...
I’ve written in a previous post about what it means to pray the “Psalms of Vengeance.” There I drew upon pastor, theologian, and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who reminds us that when we pray those Psalms calling on God to crush enemies, break the arm of...
Who has been a mentor in your life? Who has invested their time and energy to help you become who you are today? Who has “passed the baton” to you and challenged you…inspired you… to run faithfully the next lap in the race that is...
John records that Jesus talked explicitly about the coming of what he called the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who would “teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” Interesting, then, how the Holy Spirit showed up, how the disciples responded,...
Author and philosopher William James once said, “The deepest craving within any human being is the craving to be appreciated.” People ache to be seen, heard and acknowledged, James said. Persistent un-acknowledgement takes a toll on people’s lives, psyches, and even our bodies. James coined...
What do you say we all agree to put a period in the creeds immediately after professing our belief in the Holy Spirit? Wouldn’t that make life easier? Since many of us in mainline Protestant churches don’t know what to say about the third person...