The circles in which Jesus moved were not the refined and polished and sophisticated circles of the day. Jesus ran with the biker culture of the first century. We would never encourage our children to hang out with the people Jesus hung out with, would we?
Many young people have told me that, once they got established in their work, they'd give to the church and support its mission efforts. The idea was simple: The more they had, the more they'd have to give. It never quite works out this way, does it? For one thing, we never seem to have enough.
It took a leap of faith to borrow the money and build the majestic brick church with its magnificent stain-glass windows on the corner of 29th and Washington. And it took even greater courage and vision to walk away from it and build this impressive complex on what was then farmland on the edge of town.
A wise person builds his home on solid ground while a foolish person builds on sand. What did Jesus mean? He wasn’t talking about personal dwelling places. He was talking about life, specifically how one enters the kingdom of heaven.
When I first entered seminary, the dean gave us a piece of advice: "Read your professors' books." If you want to know how someone thinks, what makes them tick, read what they have to say. In much the same way, listening to Jesus' voice in scripture helps us to know him more intimately.
Today is confirmation day. At 10:30, some 19 smiling, shiny–faced young people will stand in front of their parents, and grandparents, and Godparents, and pastor, but most importantly, stand before God and say “I believe.”
To all of you fathers here today: Happy Father's Day! I trust you know what an honor and privilege it is to be a father, to have a son or daughter who share your genes and will carry on your legacy.
When the Texas Lottery first came out our boys were young. We'd driven to visit grandma. To break the monotony, Donna created a little game. The sweepstakes prize had gone up to ten million dollars, so she asked the boys what they would buy if they won all that money.
There's no escaping it – we're all prone to criticizing and critiquing and judging those around us. We do it all the time. Some of it is light-hearted and innocent Some of it is downright hateful.
A certain preacher always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was cold, dark, gloomy, and miserable. However, the preacher began by praying, "Gracious God, we thank You, that the weather's not always like this."