As I read Luke’s version of Jesus’ famous teachings around our response to bullies and beggars, I am stricken with one question… “How?”  “How can any of us learn to live in this way?”  It seems rather impractical to turn the other cheek to someone who abuses us. Our entertainment is ripe with revenge stories. […]

It has been a pretty mixed bag when it comes to the weather here in Indianapolis. Here we are on May 2 and there is a threat of snow in some places – but then it is Indiana after all and to misquote Mark Twain, ‘If you don’t like the weather in Indiana, just wait a […]

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday. We re-enacted the excitement of the palm waving crowds in Jerusalem, as they hailed Jesus as their messiah. It was Passover, the annual festival celebrating God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt.  The streets of Jerusalem were crowded with worshippers from all over the Roman Empire and Africa. Word […]

Are you familiar with the term ‘greenwash’? I wasn’t until a few years ago. It’s a term that is used to describe the efforts of larger industries and corporations to present their products as environmentally sensitive, even when they may be anything but eco-friendly. Have you noticed, for example, how virtually every detergent you buy […]

Have you ever heard yourself making excuses? Have you failed at your New Year’s Resolutions? What excuses are you rehearsing? What have you given up for Lent that you haven’t truly given up? This year my wife and I decided to try the Keto Diet, high fat, medium protein and low carbs. That means ordering […]

 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly,  like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you […]

March 6 was the beginning of Lent. Lent is sort of like running a sprint, an intense period of exercise. There are two times in our Christian calendar for these sprints, the four weeks before Christmas, which is called Advent, and Lent, the 40 days, not counting Sundays, before Easter. The word Lent is from […]

As I read the words of the prophet Isaiah I think of a troubled marriage. Like a fly on a wall I can eavesdrop on this troubled relationship. “You’re never here!” she yells in exasperation! “Even when you are here, you’re not here! Where are you?” “You treat me like I’m some kind of stranger! Worse! […]

I was raised in a Bible-believing tradition, the German Evangelical and Reformed Church, which during my childhood merged with the Congregational Churches of Christ in Boston to create the United Church of Christ.  Both of my childhood congregations have since left the UCC because they do not accept the liberal teachings of their denominational leadership. […]

‘Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This […]