Give Me Jesus

This sermon was first preached on October 21, 2018 at First Congregational Church, Kalamazoo MI. Listen here Mark 10:35-45 One of my pet peeves is when Christians use Jesus to try to control or manipulate other people. This is a trap that preachers especially can fall into, and it’s one of the reasons I fully…

Common Ground

Did anyone else see the news about Abigael Evans, this week—the 4-year old girl in the Denver area who became famous for her tearful explanation that the reason she was upset was that she was tired of hearing about Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney? It was followed by a whole host of news articles wondering—“Are…

Challenging Stuff

Lately, Barrett and I have been getting a little ruthless about giving things away. Clothes, books, toys, you name it. Maybe it’s the fact that Adam is getting bigger and we don’t plan on having any more kids, so there is no reason to save the clothes and toys he outgrows. You know, apart from…

Divorce, Marriage, People and Politics

Text: Mark 10:2-16 Now, I have to admit that ever since I started reading the Bible for myself, in junior high or high school, Mark has been my least favorite of the four gospels. John is all mystical and symbolic. Luke has all kinds of interesting characters. Matthew is focused on Jesus as a teacher….

Ask the Questions

When I think back to those days of following Jesus, there are plenty of things I wish we disciples had done differently. I wish we had paid more attention to the stories Jesus told. I wish we’d spent less time bickering and more time learning. Most of all, I wish we’d asked more questions. We…

Who Am I?

Starting in my second year of seminary, our school faced a series of losses and tragedies. A recent graduate died a sudden death. Two active students were diagnosed with terminal cancer—one of them had just gotten engaged. One student being treated for clinical depression killed himself. A professor in his 50s died of a brain…

Dealing with Disappointment

Have you ever felt disappointed in Jesus? I have to admit, that’s my first reaction to today’s passage. Disappointment first that Jesus turns down a desperate mother’s plea for help, and disappointment because his reason seems so flimsy and bigoted. “No, I can’t help you—gotta feed the children before the dogs.” It seems that because…

Neatly Wrapped Up… Or Not

How many of you are familiar with the books or the movies of the Lord of the Rings? I grew up with a father who adored the books, so as soon as the first movie came out, our whole family went out to the movie theater together. Now, because we knew the books well, we…