New Holy Ground

download a PDF of this text When was it last that you stood in holy ground?Don’t answer too quickly;points are not given to the one who says she treads there oftenest.Holy ground is not in your back yard.It is not in the church.It is not Israel either, or anywhereyour...

Out of Bounds

download a PDF of this text Texts on Sunday, February 11, 2007  Psalm 1; Luke 6: 17-31 Jesus went down with them and stood on a level place. And from there, he spoke the words from what we usually call “the sermon on the mount.” Did you notice that? How can we...

The End of the Empire State of Mind

download a PDF of this text Texts on Sunday, January 21, 2007 Nehemiah 8: 1-4a; 5-10; Luke 4: 14-21 It wasn’t until seminary studies that I got Bible history straightened out in my head. We could do much better teaching religion to children and adults. I have seen...

Wanting to Say Something

Texts on Sunday, June 4, 2006, the Day of PentecostEzekiel 37: 1-14; Acts 2: 1-21 “What does this mean!” So the ancient festival-goers exclaim in the Jerusalem square, the story says, when they hear in their own languages men from Jesus’ band...

Reading the Jesus Code

Texts on Sunday, May 14, 20061 John 4: 7-12; John 15: 1-8 Fifteen years ago, film director Oliver Stone produced a fanciful thriller called JFK purporting to tell the real story behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I have forgotten its details, but suffice it...

The Most Public Personal Thing

Texts on Sunday, April 23, 2006John 20: 19-31; Acts 4: 32-37 The story in Acts about that first Christian community can cause a little heartburn in a Christian. They held everything in common? No one claimed private ownership of anything? Most of us are not ready to...