“Are we out of coffee?” “We’re fine.  Probably enough here for another cup or two.” “Yeah, but they said they’d be coming by.  Let’s go ahead and make some more.  Then when we need it, we’ll have it.” That applies to more than coffee in the kitchen on the morning of an unexpected event, when friends…

“Where you there, when they crucified my Lord?” asks that old song. Anymore, we might well ask, too, “Were you there, when they politicized my Lord?” Or maybe, “Were you there, when they sanitized my Lord?” You’ll have some more ideas.  Please share them, here or on FB or in line somewhere with me this week.…

He leaned over to me in Sunday School and said, “Sometimes I think we make it all too complicated.” I agreed. And since then, he’s made me wonder: if we do make the Gospel more complicated than Christ Jesus did, what would be the essence of it? What 2 or 3 things would you name…

“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”  — Henry Ford. “”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.” —Jesus, Matthew 7:21. You and I understand what Henry Ford means. We…

She was following the bumper sticker. Getting close enough to read it. The bumper sticker, in its entirety: “Are You Following Jesus This Closely?” My friend told me that last week at the end of a worship service last week I agree with her assessment that it’s a darn good question, especially for this Season of the Gospel…

How many ways are there to have a Holy Lent? For decades we’ve been told it takes 7 habits to be an effective person. Many of us know the value of 12 steps. I get daily updates online about 5 easy ways to do something, 10 guidelines to getting this, 21 things to do to…

Amen. We add this little word at the end of prayers. As if it’s a code word for “Okay, I’m done praying now.” But traditionally it’s been used to mean “May it be so.” A friend likes to say it really means “And how fabulous is THAT?!” I love that.  For the next several days,…

I was waiting in a store while Patty was at what I think is called A Specialty Counter. It had a display with three colors of rubber bracelets availble.  Each color bracelet had a different message written on it. According to the sign on the counter, customers were invited to pick one and wear it while shopping so…

“It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Of all the paradoxical spins he’s already thrown at us in his prayer, our friend Frank outdoes himself with this last line. And it’s about stuff that’s a big deal. Not just stuff like Life and Death. He has us praying precisely about Life…

“God’s love endures forever” — Psalm 136. Four powerful words: “God’ love endures forever.” They’re from Psalm 136. Which verse? Here’s the fun part. “God’s love endures forever” is in verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,…