I remember the first time I was caught after dark in downtown Cap-Haitien, a sprawling Haitian city of a quarter million people.  I was at a restaurant with my 3 Haitian sons – my treat – and when we came back to my truck, night had fallen. Mikken said to me, “You need to drive as fast as you can.”  And why is that?  “You don’t want someone to throw a Coke bottle through your windshield.”  And why would someone throw a Coke bottle through my windshield?  “To protest the fact that Cap-Haitien has no working street lights.”  OK. How…

I was struck while listening to last Sunday’s sermon by the realization that the Holy Spirit’s job description is the opposite of Satan’s.  The Holy Spirit is The Advocate. Satan is The Accuser.  I think if we listen closely to the jumble of voices in our own heads, we should be able to distinguish fairly easily between the two. Right? If it’s the Holy Spirit’s voice, it might be convicting, but not accusing. It will be for our good, not leaving us wallowing in guilt and shame. The Holy Spirit is not going to be negative in a shaming way.…

In “The Veil of Thought”, Sam Harris says … Your mind is  “the most rambling,  chaotic,  needling,  insulting,  insufferable person  you will ever meet.  It’s like having some maniac  walk through the front door of your house  and follow you from room to room  and refuse to stop talking.  And this happens every day of your life.”   When I heard this, I thought, “Huh. I guess I’m not the only one.” (By the way – if you’re curious – Harris does offer a “solution”, a way to shut up your mind. Meditation. Learning how to exert control over your thoughts.) 

When Peter, James, and John tell Paul to “remember the poor”, there is part of my brain that says, “Well, it can’t be all that important if they think Paul might forget about it.” But if we are honest, we admit we are prone – always – to forgetting THE most important things.  Is it a function of our fallen human nature? A result of the limits of the human brain? A shrinking attention span.  Who knows. Whatever the cause, it is easy to allow even the most important concerns to fall by the wayside. Take marriage as an example.…

When Peter, James, and John tell Paul to “remember the poor”, there is part of my brain that says, “Well, it can’t be all that important if they think Paul might forget about it.” But if we are honest, we admit we are prone – always – to forgetting THE most important things.  Is it a function of our fallen human nature? A result of the limits of the human brain? A shrinking attention span.  Who knows. Whatever the cause, it is easy to allow even the most important concerns to fall by the wayside. Take marriage as an example.…

In the midst of big discussions in the early church about what actually qualifies as The Gospel, the Apostle Paul visited the Biggies of the Faith – James, Peter, and John – in Jerusalem. He sought them out to double-check his own understanding of Christian teaching “for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain”. (Gal. 2:2) Fortunately for Paul, the Big Three gave him the thumbs up and “the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.” (2:9) They could see that Paul was called and equipped by God to reach…

My professor pointed out that the Apostle Paul often began his letters to particular churches with something like “grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.  This was usually followed by an expression of thanksgiving for those particular Christians, something like: Even the church at Corinth, where there were major moral failings Paul needed to address, got a similar thanksgiving: “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Cor. 1:4 But the church in Galatia? They got “grace and peace” but no thanksgiving. Instead, Paul goes…

In a week I will have the opportunity to preach at the Moravian Church in Hope, Indiana – the town where I taught English not too long ago. I can’t tell you how excited I am.  Or how scared. And I am not scared just because I might be a little out of practice in both writing and delivering a sermon. Or because I will know a few people in the congregation. And not know all of the others. Or because I have to deliver the sermon at two services that morning.  I get scared because I consider preaching to…

John Wesley feared rising wealth among Christians would result “in pride, in anger, in the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Let’s add one more item to his list that might be just as bad or worse: “independence leading to poverty of relationship”.  When we have enough money, we don’t have to rely on family, friends, or neighbors for help.  Here’s a small example of the sort of thing that happens daily in one way or another:  Say you need to clean your gutters. It’s once a year, and it’s your only…