That’s the Spirit!

May 17, 2009 Sixth Sunday After Easter (B) Acts 10:44-48 No offense, but if you're a died-in-the-crimson-wool football fan of the University of Alabama or a tried-and-true North Carolina-blue basketball fan, there's an unmistakable spirit about you. I was sensitized to it by sharing a college dorm with some of your fellow enthusiasts. What you call pride, we fans of other colleges call arrogance. What you think is confidence, we consider obnoxiousness. But to be fair, that's probably how you feel about fans of the Big Orange or the Cameron crazies of Duke University.

The Not-So-Simple Gospel

May 10, 2009 ?Fifth Sunday After Easter (B) Acts 8:26-40 In my other job I'm a college professor, teaching courses in Bible, theology and ministry. As chair of my department, it recently fell to me to develop the lectures, visuals and exams to be used by all faculty teaching our general education courses of Old and New Testament survey and basic Christian theology. Driving this project was our president's concern that the majority of the students walking our urban campus hallways were biblically and theologically illiterate. I was asked to simplify the message somehow without dumbing it down.

No Other Name

May 3, 2009 ?Fourth Sunday After Easter (B) Acts 4:5-12 Ever since Adam named the animals, we have been fascinated with names. New parents spend countless hours choosing names for their sons and daughters. Lovers may not be able to lasso the moon and give it away as George Bailey promised Mary in It's a Wonderful Life, but for a few bucks they can have a star named in their loved one's honor.

The Gifts Left Under Calvary’s Tree

Jan. 4, 2009 Second Sunday After Christmas (B) Ephesians 1:3-14 At this point in the year when we're trying to recall our Christmas benefactors in order to acknowledge their generosity with an appropriate thank-you note, we do well to remember the spiritual blessings bestowed upon us by our Supreme Benefactor-blessings listed by Paul in Ephesians 1:3-14.