12/15/2020

Competing claims about what is true inundated us in 2020. Both message and messenger were doubted. The sheer volume and velocity of information overwhelm. This new year will, doubtless, be the same. We pray things will be better, but we are realists, and knowing human hearts and human nature, words and motives are weaponized. Yet, again and again, God’s people seek a word from the Lord. Whenever and wherever God speaks, powerful things happen – sometimes seen, oftentimes, not; sometimes immediate, oftentimes, not. Nevertheless, when we dare utter, “The Lord says. . .” or in the old King James Version, “Thus saith the Lord. . .” we had better do so sparingly and humbly and we had better double-check and triple-check that, indeed, “Thus saith the Lord” and then pay careful attention to what exactly the Lord saith. And we would do well to urge and encourage all those who are with us to, likewise, pay attention to what the Lord saith. Many a person have claimed “Thus saith the Lord” and used that as a bludgeon to lord over others some nefarious intent or unwittingly (and wittingly) claimed “Thus saith the Lord” when the Lord neither saith nor was it thus so.

12/11/2020

11/16/2020

A presidential impeachment. Stories and videos of children ripped from their parents’ arms at the U.S. southern border. The death of Breonna Taylor. COVID-19. The death of Ahmaud Arbery. The death of George Floyd. The shooting of Jacob Blake. The raging fires in California, Oregon, Washington State. The bomb explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Report on human rights violations in the Philippines. Students may or may not return to school this semester. US death toll due to COVID-19 surpasses 200,000. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, among others, are infected with COVID-19. Only one indictment in the case of Breonna Taylor’s death, though the charge against just one officer is unrelated to Breonna Taylor’s death. And by the time this lectionary preview is published, the U.S. presidential general election will have been decided. Maybe. Unless there are challenges after challenges.

11/13/2020

11/9/2020

10/19/2020

10/14/2020

9/22/2020

9/18/2020

8/24/2020

8/21/2020

The lectionary texts for the month of September lend themselves to preach a mini-series or individual sermons that reflect on the theme of love: love of God, love of self, and love of others. The title of the series could be “Living Love.” Weaving the theme of love throughout the month could be a good lead up or start of a fall stewardship campaign that focuses on love.

7/21/2020

Knowing is one thing. Evidencing the knowing through living is a whole other business. My wife and I are in the season of parenting when our sons are nearing college. This means tuition payments for us, the “world is your oyster” type of speak, and the vast horizon of learning that is set before them, and the daily prayer that what we have taught, modeled, and nurtured in their hearts for nearly two decades will bear fruit in such a way that demonstrates them to be responsible young men who are loving, kind, and compassionate.