No doubt you’ve seen any number of end-of-year and new year posts and memes on social media. One that struck me as particularly humorous went something like before I accept the year 2021, I need to examine its terms and conditions. If only. As we begin the year, I encourage […]
Charles Dickens’ 19th century novel is about the education and coming of age of a young orphan. With a variety of plot twists and turns, as one summary of the novel puts it, the young orphan “comes to realize that his ‘great expectations’—social standing and wealth—are less important than loyalty […]
Today, the President stated, “The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend.” If you’ve walked with City Church for any length of time, you’re likely to guess my thoughts on such a sweeping pronouncement as […]
Watching television and listening to the radio, it can seem that good news is hard to find. Speculation, hope and statistics can quickly become (in the words of The Temptations) a ball of confusion. Or, as Whitney Houston repeatedly asked in song, Where do I go…who do I talk to…who do […]
As I sat down with my family recently for our annual viewing of A Charlie Brown Christmas this year, I was prompted to think about our culture’s and my own sense of entitlement associated with Christmas. The entitlement of the phenomenally unkind children in Charles Shultz’s story is meant to […]
One thing I do with my children regularly is memorize hymns. This month, we are singing They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love. Singing this song daily, along with the recent sermons from 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, has caused me to think about what it means that others […]
We may know the destination or outcome, but not specifically the process associated with the journey. In re-reading the life of Joseph (Genesis 37-50), I was reminded of how God blessed Joseph with dreams and the ability to interpret his dreams and those of others. Joseph emphatically identified God as […]
It was 1968 and I was in the 4th grade. My parents had just moved the family to the Oak Park community of Sacramento from the State of Bakersfield. (Yes, technically, Bakersfield lies geographically within California but…well, those that are familiar with “B-town” know what I mean.) Even for a […]
“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, […]
I recently read an article that attempted to make sense from the nonsense surrounding the events in Charlottesville. As one writer penned to the POTUS’ response to Saturday, “…it’s not simply a political crisis. It’s a moral one too.” I submit, it’s a moral crisis first, second and only. There’s […]
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