(…continued) God delights in us, yes, but there are also conflicts galore in the Bible between God and everyone, just as there are between parents and teenagers. Yet, the over-whelming message of the Bible is that we are indeed God’s children, and you know how attached we get to our children. The whole […]
2720) Sermon at My Grandson’s Baptism (b) Read More »
My grandson turned 18 the other day. This is what I said in the sermon on the day of his baptism. ————————— Mitch was a tough guy. He worked hard and played hard. He liked his beer and his fast cars, and he liked participating in the tournaments at the local boxing club.
2719) Sermon at My Grandson’s Baptism (a) Read More »
God is always doing the unexpected to win us back to Himself. And what could be more unexpected than for God himself to come among us, take our sins upon himself, and suffer and die for us so that we might be forgiven and return to Him? Three thousand years ago the Psalmist (8:3-4) wondered
Pictured above: Ben Hooper (1870-1957) Governor of Tennessee, 1911-1915 ——————— Fred Craddock tells of meeting a man one day in a restaurant. “You a preacher?” the man asked. Somewhat embarrassed, Fred said, “Yes.” The man pulled a chair up to Fred’s table. “Preacher, I’ll tell you
2085) Who’s Your Daddy? Read More »
“NO SUCH THING AS A MUTT” by Roy Borges The first time I laid eyes on my brother’s dog, I didn’t like him. He was a mangy old mutt. As far as I was concerned, he was utterly worthless. He didn’t know any tricks. He picked the most inconvenient times to have to
By Alvin Rogness, The Word for Every Day, page 303, Augsburg Publishing House, 1981. If God is perfect, does he suffer? If he is all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present, holy and eternal, can we possibly cause him to suffer? Would it not be beneath his dignity to let small people like us cause him pain?
1025) The Suffering God Read More »
By Cyprian (c. 210- martyred 258), Bishop of Carthage, North Africa What great patience God has! He makes the day dawn and the light of the sun rise both over the good and over the wicked; he waters the earth with his rain, and no one is excluded from its benefits, since water
834) The Patience of God Read More »
(continued…) This is the theological problem of Holy Week: what kind of God do we have, the God of meek humility that goes to the cross on Good Friday, or the God of power who breaks forth from the tomb on Easter Sunday? The answer is in realizing that this is not a
214) God’s Use of Power (part two) Read More »
Today and tomorrow I will include the rest of the sermon from this past Palm Sunday that I began in Meditation #209 about Sam Childers and Mother Theresa. Holy Week presents us with a theological problem, a problem that has to do with the nature of God’s power; and that raises the question of
213) God’s Use of Power (part one) Read More »
