Pastor's blog

Two years ago Tobias and his wife, Francesca, got the bright idea to buy 10-acres of woodland and turn it into a refuge for people going through tough times.  They packed up their three small children, left the big city, and made a new home in the wild.  Call it a commune or farm or community.  Whatever you call it they knew they wanted it to be a shelter for people facing a crisis.  They had been inspired by the communities that they had spent time in; places that made room for the homeless, the addicted, or the ex-convict.  But when Tobias and Francesca opened up their new home, they were surprised by who showed up at their doorstep.

Most stories end where Jesus’ story just seems to be beginning.  Many movies end with the victorious hero riding into town to claim his rightful place.  Justice has been done.  All the people know and they’ve gathered to celebrate.  There are shouts of joy.  The fanfare is playing in the background.  Roll the credits here and we’re left to imagine the peaceful future that our hero and his people are left to enjoy.  The crowds that had gathered along the road on the day Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time were probably imagining just that sort of thing.

Sankofa is an African word for a bird that flies forward while looking backward.  It's also an 1800 mile bus trip that looks back at the history of race and racism in this country in the hope that the participants can find ways together to move forward toward reconciliation.  I hope to post some reflections on the trip over the next few days (turning out to be weeks).  Here's the third one.

Sankofa is an African word for a bird that flies forward while looking backward.  It's also an 1800 mile bus trip that looks back at the history of race and racism in this country in the hope that the participants can find ways together to move forward toward reconciliation.  I hope to post some reflections on the trip over the next few days.  Here's the second one.

Sankofa is an African word for a bird that flies forward while looking backward.  It's also an 1800 mile bus trip that looks back at the history of race and racism in this country in the hope that the participants can find ways together to move forward toward reconciliation.  I hope to post some reflections on the trip over the next few days.  Here's the first one.

The crowd made him who he was. This last week Julie and I watched a movie called The Wrestler. The movie follows Randy through the high’s and low’s of a professional wrestler. Don’t worry, no spoiler alerts. But I will tell you that it’s about a guy named Robin who likes to be called Randy. When he’s wrestling in the ring he goes by the name, “Ram.” He’s Randy “the Ram” Robinson. Randy has bleached blond hair, a dark tan, and big muscles. He looked the part of a professional wrestler, but it was the crowd that made him who he was.

Here are some familiar statistics. 85% of our country considers itself Christian even though 40% of Americans can’t name more than 4 commandments, only 35% make it to church every week, and 12% think that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. I find that last one hard to believe. But here’s something that really ought to catch our attention. 75% of the people in this Christian nation believe that “God helps those who help themselves” is a verse in the Bible. ¾ of this Bible-reading, church-going nation attribute to the Bible words that came from Benjamin Franklin.

At the coming of Jesus, Mary burst into a joyful song because all of her hopes for peace and love had come true. This Advent season, as we await the coming of Jesus Christ, we will join in Mary’s song because we share her hope for peace and love among all peoples. We will listen to four different voices being intentional to include both genders and some of the diversity of this world that God has saved through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I’m sure we can all think of a number of times in life when we have felt justified. Just think of an argument or disagreement or friendly wager with a spouse or friend or co-worker. Think of a time when one of you was going to be right and the other wrong; one of those heated conversations that ends in, “Well, we’ll see won’t we.” We all love to say, “I told you so.” We feel so proud. We feel so right. We feel so justified. We also know what it’s like to have to justify our actions. Every golf season I need to justify to Julie why I need to buy more golf balls even though I’ve been telling her how well I played. In other words, I need to prove to her why it’s right for me to do so.

What is it? We often hear that it is somehow tied to our salvation. We have been "saved by grace through faith."