An Easter Sermon from Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho Mark 16:1-8 Christ is Risen! Hallelujah! Let’s flee in terror and amazement, saying nothing to anyone because we are afraid! Hallelujah! Wait? What? That’s not how it is supposed to go. Mark’s account of Easter morning is noticeably different than the other 3 gospels. Jesus…
My college classmate, J J Baskin, died this past week, after a year long battle with cancer. A beautiful tribute to his remarkable 48 years can be found here. When he was first diagnosed, I wrote about it here. In life, in sickness, in death, J J was always showing us how to care for…
Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence signed a law this week for “Religious Freedom Restoration”. On the surface, this is presumably to protect people’s religious expression. Of course, there are no instances to be cited where religious expression has been threatened in this country. There are plenty of illustrations of where people are legally being allowed to…
A sermon preached at Sabbath worship on Saturday, March 21, 2015 at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho. Jeremiah 18:1-10 Isaiah 64:8-9 2 Cor 4: 7-12, 16-18 (Tonight in worship, everyone was invited to take a piece of clay to work during the service. During the time of confession, people were asked to destroy what…
Because of my work for the Covenant Network, I was interviewed this week about same gender marriage in the Presbyterian Church. I was happy to take the interview, when it was offered. I confess I was a little ambivalent, though, about who wanted to interview me. Cosmo That’s right. Cosmopolitan Magazine wanted to interview a…
Worship this morning at the NEXT Conference was wonderful, and not only because my good friend Brian Ellison preached one heck of a sermon. We also sang two hymns I love. I recognize not everyone gets excited by good hymns, sung well, in the midst of people one loves. But I sure do. Many people…
I’ve never paid much attention to St Patrick’s Day before. My family is Scottish and Norwegian, primarily. It wasn’t our day. Then I discovered my birth father was of Irish descent. His last name was McCourt. So this is my first St. Patrick’s Day. I will be spending it in Chicago, where I am…
I’ve just returned from a week at Mo Ranch, in the Hill Country of Texas, for a conference called CREDO, a program of the PCUSA Board of Pensions. If my clergy friends get an invitation for this, please accept it. It was a blessing of a week. Here’s their description: A unique conference held in…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho March 1, 2015 Mark 8:31-37 Before our story you heard this morning, Jesus has just asked his disciples “who do people say that I am?” And then he asks them, “who do you say that I am?” And right after this passage, Jesus is transfigured…
Twice this week, I had the privilege to hear a young woman testify at the statehouse. The first time was Monday morning, the ill-fated session when Rep Barbieri seemed more than a little unclear about how women’s bodies worked exactly. (Of course, his confusion does not seem to keep him from thinking he’s qualified to…
Glass Overflowing 