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Sermons

Take The Other Street (1 Cor. 10:1-13)

At some point during most summers I go back in my mind to a time when I am eleven years old.  It’s just after sunset on the fourth of July.  I’m standing on the back porch of Grandpa and Grandma Weise’s house near Omaha, Nebraska.  Earlier that day Dad went into town and bought a cellophane-wrapped box filled with fireworks.  We’re circled around the box shooting the fireworks off in the yard.  It’s my turn.  Naturally, I grab the biggest firework in the box.  I don’t want my twin brother Craig getting it.  It’s a Roman Candle—the kind you hold after lighting.  The instructions say you should hold the Roman Candle away from you so that it is perpendicular to your body; light one end; and watch the colored balls of fire shoot from the other end.  But I am eleven years old.  I don’t need directions.  It’s just a Roman Candle.  Nothing’s going to happen.  So, in my arrogance I get careless.  I pick up the Roman Candle, light one end, and hold it at arm’s length.  But the unlit end is pointing towards my stomach.  I am not watching what I’m doing.  Nothing’s going to happen.  I am eleven years old.  But before I know it, the Roman Candle launches its ammunition into my stomach.  I scream in pain. Read More »Take The Other Street (1 Cor. 10:1-13)

Taking the Environment Captive (Psalms)

My earliest memory of facing an environmental issue is from my 5th or 6th grade year.  My mom had moved to Las Cruces, NM with my step-dad.  Las Cruces was a thirty minute drive from El Paso, TX which sat across the Rio Grande from Juarez, Mexico.  When I visited my mom (I was living with my dad elsewhere) we would often drive to El Paso.  There were shops there which we didn’t have in Las Cruces.  Each drive to El Paso took us past a large industrial factory on the outskirts of El Paso.  The factory was located near the homes of thousands of the poor in Juarez, Mexico who lived in cinder block homes.  From miles in any direction you could see thick colored smoke pouring out of the smoke stack of the factory.  Day and night smoke spewed out of the factory.Read More »Taking the Environment Captive (Psalms)

The Red Prayer of Glory (John 17:1-26)

Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States have spent months trying to persuade Iran to suspend their uranium enrichment and reprocessing. These six nations do not want Iran to become a nuclear power. The negotiations have been going on for months. Imagine, if just before these talks had started, we read in the morning paper: “Diplomats From Six Nations Gather for Prayer.” Imagine the article shared how the senior diplomats of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States wanted to prevent Iran from going nuclear. But their first step was going to be prayer. For a month they would gather and pray.Read More »The Red Prayer of Glory (John 17:1-26)

Taking Thinking Captive (2 Cor. 101-6)

Raise your hand if you watched the Summer Olympics. I and my family watched them. We love watching the Olympics. The only thing we don’t like is how sleep-deprived we get. What was your favorite Olympic moment? Raise your hand if your favorite Olympic moment had to do with swimming? With gymnastics? With track and field? (I won’t ask anyone to raise their hand about the beach volleyball). How about the Opening Ceremony? How many of you watched it? Two things happened during the Opening Ceremony which caused controversy. First, we learned that some footage of the fireworks exploding across China’s capital was fake. What millions watched on television was not all actual fireworks. Some of what we saw was digitally inserted into the television coverage to make the fireworks appear more spectacular than they really were. Second, we learned that the nine year old girl who sang during the ceremony was not actually singing. She was lip-synching. The one actually singing was a seven year old girl who was originally scheduled to be in the ceremony. At the last moment, however, she was judged not cute enough and was replaced with a cuter nine year old. The seven year old had the better voice. So, she sang while the nine year old lip synced.[1] Even in front of millions of viewers, something false was presented as true.Read More »Taking Thinking Captive (2 Cor. 101-6)