John was born with cerebral palsy and no Achilles tendons. His mother was a drug addict and his only use to her was to provide a clean urine sample when she needed it. His father never came around because he was embarrassed because his son was “a cripple.” His grandmother raised him until age 4 when she died. A lifetime’s worth of devastating losses before he was even old enough to understand all that was happening to him. As Pastor Chad embarked on his message series on “Loss,” he began by recounting the two miscarriages they had endured this past … Read More

Geshundheit! We hear that word often during the cold and flu season. What would you think of a medical facility named Geshundheit? Well, in 1971 Dr. Hunter Doherty “Patch” Adams founded the Geshundheit Institute. During his medical training he found that patients often responded just as favorably to tender, loving concerned care by the doctor as they did to just being prescribed a dose of medication. While I do not know Dr. Adams relationship with God I do know the idea has a basis in scripture, “a merry heart does good like medicine.” Dr. Adams believed that medical attention should … Read More

Solomon’s tweets (otherwise known as the book of Proverbs) is an amazing compilation of bits of wisdom from God to help us in our daily living. As Pastor Chad began to prepare his mini-series on “The Sluggard”, he found an abundance of material in Proverbs. But, as a farmer friend of mine used to say, “He stopped preaching and went to meddlin’.” However, to keep us with him and help the church adjust to the proper frame of reference for the sermons on laziness, Pastor Chad gave us the definition: “Laziness is the unwillingness to do the right thing at … Read More

I am convinced God is a sports fan. I am sure some will think I am biased in my assessment but as I read through the Bible I find it replete with references to athletics. Now you may say that it is stretching the point to include warfare, but aren’t most athletic contests just civilized forms of warfare? And Paul was very specific about comparing preparation for the Christian life with preparation for a race. Even though I have gorged myself with television coverage of football this past month, I am still amazed at how detailed the networks get with … Read More

I have often recounted the philosophical warning, “Be careful what you ask for because you might get it.” That admonition came to my mind again as I was working my way through the 35+ football games over the holidays. These 6000 young men representing 70+ schools had done well enough to have some semblance of a national stage on which to perform. The thousands of hours they had spent training, the sacrifices they had made would now help them fulfill a life long dream. But wait, in reality only about one third to one half of them would actually get … Read More

Katie Couric recently focused her television talk show on religion today in the United States. I don’t know if Katie is a Christian but she seems to have some understanding of the basics of Christianity. Among the people she interviewed were a couple of pastors from two diverse mega-churches. One is a prominent preacher at a mega-church with a national television presence. He seemed fundamental in his stated beliefs but leaned heavily on positive thinking and if you do good things and give enough money God will take care of you. (Since he only talked a few minutes and I … Read More

The Gospel according to Charlie Brown is not quite as eloquent as Pastor Chad but Charlie Brown’s Christmas does get its point across. Charlie Brown is depressed because of all the commercialism of Christmas. He is sent to buy a Christmas tree and finds a tree lot full of all kinds of aluminum trees. After some search, he finds a scrawny little fir tree with the needles rapidly falling off. But, it was a real tree! His friends tried to help by elaborately decorating it. This makes him sad again because he thinks this is again demeaning Christmas. Then, Linus … Read More

I was shocked! Labor Day had just passed, the back to school items were being cleared out and now Costco was selling Christmas trees! I guess I should not have been so surprised as the onset of Christmas selling has been inching earlier and earlier each year. But as I reflected on Pastor Chad’s sermon about God’s Present, as told in Matthew 1, it was startling to realize the little resemblance between Christmas today as compared to that first Christmas. And, sadly, how little Christ is acknowledged in the current celebration of Christmas. Here we are, just after the 1st … Read More