Mark 6: 1-6 When I was a child I received as a gift from my parents on my birthday, a Kodak Instamatic camera. It was marketed as a camera to fit into your pocket easily. I thought it was cool. My mother, particularly, was excited to give it to me. She was the one in…
What Am I Convinced Of?
What am I convinced of these days? Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armour, ‘Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.; it maybe that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.’ – 1 Samuel 14: 6…
First and Foremost
Daniel 3: 13-26 King Nebuchadnezzar wanted the people to worship what he made. If they didn’t, they’d suffer. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Jews appointed by the king over the affairs of Babylon, were known not to worship the statue. In this society, we don’t know kings. We know politicians. A candidate running for Congress hired…
Great Big Things
Happy Father’s Day. “My kids are always so nice to me on Father’s day,” said one father. “They will do anything I ask them to do.” A co-worker replied, “Well, I must say that Father’s Day is the one day that my children do listen to me. I tell them not to spend a lot…
Ask Him
Mark 4: 26-34 It is in the fourth chapter of Mark the readers and hearers are told if you don’t understand the parable of the sower of seeds, how will you understand all parables? In this chapter, there is the parable of the sower (we read together Matthew’s version last July), the parable of the…
But I Wait in Patience
My posts over the last year have all been sermon manuscripts. Way back when I was told to write (Write this down for the next generation. . . Write so the story can be told in Zion, so God’s praise will be sung. . . – Psalm 102 in The Message), there was an intentionality…
In Relationship with Him
Mark 3: 20-30 With the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost still in mind, we’re hearing about the work of Jesus in the Holy Spirit and how it was misconstrued on one occasion as the work of Satan. The story is going around that up in the Stanford Research Laboratories they have made an…
By Many or By Few
Isaiah 6: 1-8 In 1943, Thomas J. Watson, president of IBM, said, “I think that there’s a world market for about five computers. In 1946, Daryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, said, “TV won’t be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired…
As Jesus Did
Acts 2: 1-24, 32-36 For years, Tony Campolo, renowned preacher, college professor and author, would speak at a Christian festival in central Pennsylvania. Thousands of young people would attend the festival which had a definite Pentecostal flavor to it. The festival always reached a crescendo on Saturday night. Tony was often the featured speaker on…
An Ending and a Beginning
Luke 24: 44-53 A specially chartered plane was carrying the Pope, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the smartest lawyer in the world, and an Eagle Scout on an international goodwill tour when it ran into a storm. When three of the engines and the hydraulic system started to fail, the pilot got on…
Psalm 102 in The Message 