Why Stuff the Creation Story Into a Tiny Box? As the city of Richmond prepares to hear and see the neo-conservative Christian presentation of Creation “science” at the Civic Hall, let me add my fuel to the fire of this debate. As a confessing Christian and an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, [...]
Columns
August, 2007 – Let Not Our Pride Make Us Blind
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Let Not Our Pride Make Us Blind There was a knock on the door. I opened it. “Pastor, would you be willing to join our town Pride Organization?” two well dressed elderly women asked. “What is it?” “Well, we meet for breakfast at the Lakeside Restaurant, on the first Saturday of the month. Usually, we [...]
July, 2007 – A Patriotic Perspective
Sunday, July 15, 2007
A Patriotic Perspective It was the fourth of July. I was sitting in the car in the parking lot of Wal-Mart, listening to the radio. On came the song “I’m Proud To Be An American” by Lee Greenwood. I thought to myself, “Why am I proud to be an American?” At first I experienced a [...]
June, 2007 – The Challenge Set Before The Church
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Challenge Set Before The Church Recently I read a church newsletter which featured an article boasting about all the graduates the church planned to recognize during their worship service. Of the 15 graduates named, 2 were earning technical or associate degrees, 4 were graduating with four year college degrees, 2 were completing Master’s degree [...]
May, 2007 – Renaming Mother’s Day?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Renaming Mother’s Day? For many of us Mother’s Day is a sacred holiday. In fact, when I began serving my first church in the early 80′s, a congregation of farmers in Kansas, we had more worshipers on Mother’s Day than we did for Christmas or Easter. But now my denomination, the United Church of Christ, [...]
April 30, 2007 – Full Of Awesome Surprises
Monday, April 30, 2007
Which way are you looking? Are you looking back? Back to the things that went bad? Or, are you looking forward with a sense of expectation that something good will happen? Life can be hard. Very hard. You may have been touched by death, struggle with disability, been used or abused, or just had a [...]
March, 2007 – Panel Meets, Interacts with Vaile Students
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Panel Meets, Interacts with Vaile Students Last Friday, I drove my scooter through the halls of Vaille Elementary School until I reached the Gym. I shook hands with Richmond’s Mayor Sally Hutton, Lori Lakes and Jane Zimmerman. Then I joined a panel of disabled persons from the Community Council On Disability Awareness including Josh Williams [...]
February, 2007 – Snow in the Kingdom of God
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Snow in the Kingdom of God On New Year’s Day in 1978, I witnessed what I consider a miracle of Biblical proportions. I was living in the inner city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Snow began to fall at dawn. The following evening I stepped outside. I looked up to see a star spangled sky. Illuminated by [...]
January, 2007 – Make The Resolution That Really Counts
Monday, January 15, 2007
Make The Resolution That Really Counts A few years ago my wife and I decided to take a week’s vacation. We booked a flight which was to take off from the Indianapolis airport at 6:00 am, so we decided to book a room at a motel near the airport the night before, with the added [...]
December, 2006 – Let God Stir Up Your Holidays
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Let God Stir Up Your Holidays A few years ago I was signed up to ring the Salvation Army bell. I decided to read over the Christmas story in the Bible before I left the house. I noticed that the Christmas story is not just about the birth of Jesus. It is about the people [...]