June 7 PART 1 https://youtu.be/0XW-4Xnz-go June 7 PART 2 https://youtu.be/2pXmBQC8RNw (Genesis 1:1–2:4a) If you’ve done one of those DNA tests like Ancestry or 23andMe, you know that the process involves spitting into a cup and sending that, along with anywhere from $50 to $100, to a lab. Then, after a few weeks, you get a…
(John 20:19-23) The great novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that “there are no second acts in American lives.” But Fitzgerald was wrong. There are plenty of them. Take Ken, for example. Growing up, all he ever wanted to be was a doctor. He did pre-med at Duke University, and then went to medical school at…
(Acts 1:6-14) On top of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is a very small Crusader-era church called “The Chapel of the Ascension.” Unlike the popular and crowded Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which marks the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, this little chapel sees few visitors. Administered by Muslims since the end of…
(Acts 17:22-31) Seems like everywhere Christians turn these days, there’s another article or survey about the decline of faith and the rise of secularism in Western culture. We had a good run in the days of Christendom, when most people had at least some affinity for religion, even if they weren’t particularly religious themselves. The…
(Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16) Thoughts and prayers. Some people find them valuable, while others would actually pay to avoid them. A recent study found that Christians generally value the offer of thoughts and prayers, even from a stranger. Two sociologists studied a group of North Carolina residents in the fall of 2018 after Hurricane Florence struck. …
UNWRITTEN RULES (Acts 2:42-47) Baseball, like any sport, has rules. Most of these rules are codified in a complex document that has been revised and ratified at various times by the owners of the baseball clubs in Major League Baseball. You follow these official rules, and if you don’t, you pay a penalty. Unless you’re…
(Acts 2:14a, 36-41) Easter was a crisis. Exactly 100 years ago, Denmark experienced the Easter Crisis of 1920. The king and the cabinet had a conflict that escalated into a constitutional crisis, leading to the development of a constitutional monarchy in Denmark. Easter was also a rising. In Ireland, the Easter Rising of 1916 was…
(John 20:19-31) Who really shot JFK? Were the moon landings real or staged? Did Elvis really die in 1977, or did he fake his death in order to get some privacy? Was Paul McCartney actually replaced by a look-alike when he allegedly died in 1966? Was 9/11 staged by the U.S. government? Are all these…
(Acts 10:34-43) I often get help, though a sermon starter resource, with writing a “catchy” current introduction to the week’s message. Back at the first of March, as I was planning the messages for April, the suggested title of “Putting the ‘FUN’ In Funeral” seemed – for wont of a better word – fun and…
(Matthew 21:1-11) The challenges of boot camp typically culminate in celebration. The hard work and self-examination experienced along the way come to an end with a sigh of relief and a hoot of satisfaction, with high fives all around for the group that has taken this journey together. All four Gospels state clearly and repeatedly…