Bringing the Word to Life

Reflections on Kenya & Uganda: Travel as Withdrawal

Leave a Comment / Kenya & Uganda, People, Personal, Theological Reflection, Uncategorized / By /

Yesterday, I made the observation that travel is a sort of incarnation. In our case, a seventeen-day adventure in Kenya and Uganda included a ministry of presence with impoverished children at risk, new small-business owners, school teachers and pastors. Just being there brought a message: “We see you. We know you are here. There are people praying for you. We support your work for the Kingdom of God in this place. God knows what you are doing here with so little, and he will provide for you.” Over the years, we have discovered our best vacation memories revolve around encounters […]

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Reflections on Kenya/Uganda: Travel as Incarnation

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My husband and I arrived home yesterday afternoon, after a nineteen-day adventure in equatorial East Africa. In many places we had no electricity, so we had no Internet access, and uploading pictures to Facebook was a problem as well. I decided to catch up now with some reflection that is an inevitable and necessary part of world travel. Though the topic may not always relate to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), most certainly the Word was brought to life for me, and in turn I hope for you. But I can say parenthetically that the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA)

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Sermon Illustration #3—THE KINGDOM OF GOD MAKES AN IMPACT: Church Buys Porno Theatre

Leave a Comment / Moral Authority, PCUSA, Sermon Illustrations, The Lord's Prayer, The Missional Church / By /

Topic: The Now and the Not-Yet of the Kingdom of GodScripture: Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heavenSource: Kent Richardson, “A History of First Presbyterian Church, Concord, California,” revised by David Stearns, FPCC website (scroll down to “Service”). Fourteen years before my arrival as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Concord (California), the congregation had been dealing with a vexing problem. Situated just one block from Concord’s central square, the church had a rear property line in common with the Showcase Theatre. The art deco building faced the city square, and in its heyday was

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Sermon Illustration #2— FAITH: Buried in an Avalanche

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I was washing the dishes, listening to our local news radio station, when the news anchor started a phone conversation with Jeff Eckland, a skier who was caught in an avalanche at Kirkwood near Lake Tahoe. The news report had come over the wire services: Skier is buried in snow 17 minutes but survives  KIRKWOOD – A Kirkwood ski area employee survived a brush with death when he was caught up in a snow slide and buried for about 17 minutes, the Alpine County Sheriff’s office said. Jeff Eckland, 24, of South Lake Tahoe was skiing the resort’s back side

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There’s a Sermon Illustration in There Somewhere

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Our home was filled with happy chaos for about twelve days surrounding my early June birthday. It was one of those milestone birthdays, the big 6—0. So our girls decided to orchestrate a birthday party for the two of us (hubby’s big one is in August); hence, “the twelve days of Birthday.” We are definitely of the school that celebrates birthdays as long as possible, and I have not been disappointed this year! One of the party games our daughters cooked up was a matching game using twenty of my favorite sermon illustrations over the years. Just picking them out

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Response to Ed Koster’s Recent Article

Leave a Comment / GAPJC Decisions, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Uncategorized / By /

I’m not sure why Ed Koster is still responding to PCUSA remedial cases that were completed over a year ago, but since he mentions one case I spent about three years on, I will comment on the points he makes in his recent Outlook article. The PCUSA faces a problem of discontinuity that is messy in its consequences: Any particular presbytery ordains for the whole church, based solely on the local governing body’s discretion. This scenario works if the presbytery reflects the doctrine represented in our Confessions, which have been agreed to by the body as our means of interpreting

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The Complications of Communication

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Yesterday I spent a good part of the day participating in an online discussion, trying to sort out what appeared to be a miscommunication through the halls of Facebook. A post appeared within a Facebook group, other members of the group reacted while others tried to ask helpful questions. The “conversation” escalated into paranoia at times, and without any more substantive information to feed it, speculation took over. I finally called the original poster (is that a word?) to clarify the genesis of the issue that had come to light, and by day’s end it appeared resolution was around the

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The Courage to Hold and Speak Our Convictions

Leave a Comment / Leadership and Spirituality, Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Spiritual Disciplines, Teaching, The Missional Church, Theological Reflection / By /

Yesterday, I pondered spiritual boldness and the need for Christians to pray for it in an increasingly pluralistic society. From a cultural point of view, uttering certain viewpoints is risky and costly, leading some Christ-followers to be circumspect if not silent about their faith. I found out yesterday that one of my former students, applying for a ministry internship, was challenged by the interviewer for having me as one of her references, “because [I am] against gay ordination.” The student, taken aback by that attitude in what was supposed to be an ecumenical environment, stood up for me. [For the

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Do We Want to Pray for Boldness?

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Had an interesting experience last night. I, along with three others, was asked to give feedback to a seminary intern on a sermon he is going to deliver at our church in a couple of weeks. The text was Acts 4:23-31: 23After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them [which was ‘not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus’].  24When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the

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Why Do People Do What They Do?

Leave a Comment / Current Events, Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, It All Started in the Garden, Personal, The Missional Church, Theological Reflection / By /

A couple times a week I join a few fellow “gym rats” for coffee at the local Peet’s. This group of women frequents the fitness center and then gathers for a coffee klatch before heading home. They come from diverse backgrounds culturally and geographically and represent the gamut of religious views, from lapsed Christian to Sihk to Jewish to complete blank slate. Every once in awhile, one of them will turn to me for advice, knowing I am a pastor. Lately, however, there has been a communal handwringing over recent events. When the bombs went off in Boston, the questions

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