In case you haven’t noticed we are in the middle of election-cycle crazy season.  There are several politicians proposing their answers to our national problems.  There is always a great deal of talk about grand sweeping ideas, things that will … Continue reading →

Just a year or so into the pastoral ministry of my first church (I was 23 when I started!) I was invited by a member to visit her brother John. John was in a hospice center. He had contracted a … Continue reading →

The world once more didn’t end as it was predicted.  Someone had calculated the end of the world would happen last spring.  Stubbornly things went on as usual.  “Ah, a slight miss calculation, it’s actually Oct. 21.”  Well Friday came … Continue reading →

I recently saw an atrocious breech of good sense on Facebook.  No, no nudity, obscenity, nor extremist political statement was involved.  It was religious advice about how to test for false teaching.  The post read: “Discerning false teaching is not … Continue reading →

I happened across an article written by a religious leader (Dianna Butler Bass) who argued that churches NEED to be talking about the tragic shooting in Tucson.  As you undoubtedly know, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is in stable condition (at … Continue reading →

We ate out the other day; a nice place, but not too formal.  They offered valet parking.  We noticed this after we had parked the car, paid the meter, and walked half a mile in the cold.  But we didn’t … Continue reading →

Deuteronomy 10:19 ?And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.? Ezekiel 47:22 ?You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have … Continue reading →

The church (“writ large”) has been the recipient of bad news recently.  It looks like we (a “broad we”) can’t catch a break.  Just a few examples: the never ending scandals involving priests, the famously converted Ann Rice who decides … Continue reading →

During our trip to the Baptist World Congress – which happens every 5 years, this one in Hawai’i! – we took a side trip to the island of Kauai.  We were on an excursion bus, which made a 5 minute … Continue reading →

A Community of United Diversity (Ethiopian Eunuch)   Acts 8: 26-39  Scott L. Stearman   July 18, 10  KBC William Wilberforce, b. 1759, was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. Five years … Continue reading →