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On the Anniversary of Dad’s Death
“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely, “that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth” (Ephesians 6:2-3). Today is the anniversary of Dad’s death. Dad was a complicated man, to say the least. Recently I was talking to a Christian brother and, essentially, said that when we die it might be said for any of us believers: “He was a Christian… and he was a mess in many ways.” We never outgrow our desperate need for Christ. Anyone who knew my dad knew he had struggles, but they also had no doubt…
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Declutter our lives? In advance? As a prerequisite? Really?
For the second Sunday of Advent, December 8, 2019, the Revised Common Lectionary readings included Matthew 3:1–12. The focus of the passage was on John the Baptizer serving in his God-ordained role as the forerunner of the Messiah. While I listened to the speaker that Sunday, I became increasingly pensive. This is because the homiletician talked at length about the necessity of parishioners “decluttering” their lives in preparation for the advent of the Savior. Indeed, throughout the message, the speaker emphasized God’s children removing whatever was unnecessary, along with cleaning up whatever remained, in their lives. Allegedly, doing so was of utmost importance. Just to clarify, the homiletician did not…
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The Whole Law
After church one day an older woman approached me and said, “I didn’t see you in church today. I saw your husband take communion, but I didn’t see you take communion.” I responded, “You are correct. I did not take communion today.” To which she replied, “I’ve been sitting in the front row for years, and I know exactly who does and does not take communion.” I think she even ended with a, “Hmphh,” but I can’t confirm that. Now, I sometimes just blurt stuff out without weighing the consequences. Lucky for my husband in this moment I did more weighing than blurting. Not that I cared what she thought…
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Courageous Leadership
I still remember the first time I slipped out of my chair and stood at the head of a boardroom table. The women before me were leaders, mentors, and trailblazers in my profession. "They don't teach you how to do this in seminary," I thought to myself. I swallowed hard, hobbled through our hour-long agenda, and concluded the meeting. Since that day, I've experienced the same what-am-I-doing-here feeling a hundred times. You too? As leaders we seldom feel adequate—let alone courageous—as we survey our task. So how do we practice courageous leadership when we feel anything but courageous? Some of our best instruction can be found in the book of…
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“Christian” Homosexuality Advocates, part 2
“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently” (1 Timothy 1:7). These columns are in response to a reader named Donald, who wrote to me in the comments section of my column entitled, “Should a Christian Attend a Homosexual Wedding?” In his comments, Donald laid the foundation for reinterpreting or dismissing the passages of Scripture which teach that homosexuality is a sin. (For part one of this series, see here.) In his response we read, “I do not see Scripture as saying that every homosexual act is a sin, although some translations may…
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“Christian” Homosexuality Advocates?
“Rebuke your neighbor frankly so that you will not share in his guilt” (Leviticus 19:17b, NIV 1984). This column is the first in response to a man named Donald who wrote some replies to my column entitled, “Should a Christian Attend a Homosexual Wedding?” In light of recent events, I believe it would be best to answer Donald’s comments in a more visible way, not only in the response section of my previous column. Two things first: 1. If this column appears to start in the middle of a conversation, it does not; it simply follows from the above mentioned column. 2. I have slightly edited the responses to make…
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The Hidden Danger of Ignoring Inconvenient Rules
If you haven’t watched A Man for All Seasons in a while, now might just be a good time. It’s a story about what happens when you don’t want to keep inconvenient rules—a story very much for our times. Might be helpful for all of us who follow Jesus (Don’t gossip. Don’t have sex outside of marriage. Give sacrificially. Show hospitality.), with a specific application for President Obama, Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Ferguson protesters. The film should be a great conversation starter, especially when the House of Representatives just filed suit against President Obama for delaying requirements of the Affordable Care law until after this fall’s election. When…
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What Can We Make of Jesus, but God Incarnate? (A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 17)
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58).[1] The World Religions’ Professor’s assignment read as follows: What’s the best word to describe Jesus? Prophet, Avatar (of the Hebrew God), or Bodhisattva? Well, I was not going to be forced into the professor’s definitions…. 0
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Rabbit Trails: the Leper, the Clean, the Unclean, Menstrual Rags, the Unregenerate… and Jesus
Rabbit trails. That’s what a pastor friend of mine named Ian calls it when his sermons veer off in multiple directions, and that’s what I call it when my biblical studies lead me from one thing to the next to the next. 0
