RSS FeedWORRY OR RESPONSIBLE CONCERN?
I have always had a problem with calling worry a sin. It seems to me that it is natural and normal to want to take care of my basic needs - that it is common sense to take thought for the future. I was raised to be responsible, and to prepare for a rainy day. My...
LISTENING TO SERMONS
Chuck Lawless posted on his blog some challenging reasons some folk don’t listen to preaching or teaching in church (Jan.8,2024). They include 1. Distraction: something else was going on in their head – like worries, concerns, exciting plans etc. 2. Fatigue: being...
ARE YOU READY TO JUMP INTO THE NEW YEAR?
James Barrie first produced his wildly successful play, Peter Pan, in 1904. The movie, Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman and Julie Christie, explored the inspiration of the play in Barrie’s relationship to the Llewelyn-Davies...
THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FOR OUR WORLD TODAY
The Gospels tell us that Jesus came into a world of military dictatorship and genocide. The Word became flesh, God became man, when Caesar Augustus decreed that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world for purposes of military conscription and taxation....
THE UNSUNG HERO OF CHRISTMAS
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man…..” (Matthew 1:18,19) What...
MARY AND ELIZABETH
Central to Advent and Christmas are the stories of two women: Mary and Elizabeth. Luke, the beloved physician, takes a professional and personal interest in their experience during pregnancy. Immediately after Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she is to bear a...
SOLIPSISM
Solipsism is the view that ourselves is the only thing worth knowing. Today it is the view that our identity is the only thing that matters and that only we can determine what that identity can be. This view would have been incomprehensible to John the Baptist. He was...
ADVENT
The four weeks before Christmas Day constitute the season of Advent, which marks the beginning of the Christian year. Advent means ‘arrival’. It refers to the coming of Christ: his first coming in humility at Bethlehem, and his second coming in glory at the end of...
THANKSGIVING
What reasons can we find to celebrate Thanksgiving Day? In a world where there are wars and rumors of wars, where refugees are hungry and in danger of being killed, where people are in pain and suffering it is hard if not impossible to be thankful. It is always...
SPIRITUAL DEMENTIA
John Swinton, Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care in the University of Aberdeen, in his book on Dementia writes, The problem of forgetfulness is not confined to the individual with dementia. The experience of dementia brings to the fore a broader amnesia...
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