I’m sitting in my front office as I write this article and as I look around, I wonder how much a stranger could discern about me based on my office décor. There’s certainly an eclectic mix of items: lots of books, records, art, photos, diplomas, coffee mugs, a few folding...
In 1951 Christian ethics professor H. Richard Niebuhr wrote what is considered to be the classic exploration of how Christians should go about engaging the culture around them in their attempts to live the Christian life and accomplish the work of the church. The book, entitled Christ &...
This coming Sunday we are going to do something we typically don't. We're going to give the entire message over to talking about some key ideas that will shape the future of who we are as a church. For the past year our membership has been working toward paying off our outstanding debt in the...
The Who’s classic song “Join Together” was released during the summer of 1972 as an anthem to putting differences aside and unifying under the banner of music. In it one finds a hopeful celebration that those things that bind us together as humans might eventually win out over...
Beyond teaching us how crayons are made and lessons from the Neighborhood of Make Believe, Mr. Rogers also lived the life of a "good neighbor."
As a church, we are part of a larger group of denominations often referred to as “evangelical.” The designation implies that a significant part of our understanding of the church’s mission is to evangelize, or share the good news with people around us. When the church has taken...
I often tell people that the study of the Bible really is one of those practices where the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. But a follow-up point that should also be mentioned, as I’ve also found to be the case, is that the more I learn about it, the more confident...
This coming weekend will wrap up the Spiritual Essentials study for many of our small groups. I know it has been a great springboard into all kinds of discussions both in the rooms and in the halls of our church. I alone have heard stories about how it has helped people to communicate their...
Much like an artist or a writer, as a preacher there are some sermons that I’m very happy with and others much less so. (Fortunately, because the whole preaching process is a spiritual exercise, how pleased I am with the finished product has absolutely nothing to do with how well it...