Minister’s Ramblings

Prepare the way of the Lord.  This is how Mark starts his story of Jesus, with words from the prophet Isaiah describing John the Baptist as the voice of one ... Read more

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”  “Come and worship Christ, the newborn king!” … except can’t really call Jesus newborn anymore.  I mean it’s been over 2000 years ... Read more

When you’re living in the wilderness or in exile, you need to have stories that remind you that God has a promise for you; that God has something better in store for you; that this present wilderness is not your final destination.

I wonder if we still know how to dream.  Sometimes I wonder if our dreams are too small to be truly inspiring.

But actually, it’s not that God doesn’t make sense; it’s that the world doesn’t make sense, and God doesn’t respond to this stupid, senseless world the way I expect God to, the way I want God to.  In this non-sensical world, I want God to fix it, or at the very least, I want God to make sense of it all for me.  But God doesn’t.  God doesn’t do what I want or what I expect.

Back when I was in high school, one of the many holiday jobs I had at different times was working as a strawberry picker.  I tell you it was hard ... Read more

Maybe that’s why we’re less ready to embrace change.  Maybe that’s why we’re hesitant about heading into a new direction.  I know that I preach a lot about the kingdom of God, this vision that Jesus offers for the world could be like, but I have to question whether I’m willing to sacrifice any of my current comforts for the sake of that vision.  Yes, we’re called into God’s vision for the world, but things aren’t too bad right now.  Maybe I can kick my shoes off and just enjoy the status quo for a bit longer.  The status quo is generally good for us, so when we’re offered the chance to make a difference, to help bring God’s vision to fruition, are we ready to travel?

It's a lot easier to be nice and polite to people and go to church on a Sunday and sing praises to Jesus, and then call ourselves “Christians”.  To put it another way, it's a lot easier to be a fan of Jesus than it is to be a follower.

Fear does funny things – and not in a “haha” kind of way.  In this story (Exodus 1:8-2:10), Pharaoh is afraid.  It’s been a few generations since Joseph brought his ... Read more

Matthew takes this story from Mark’s gospel, and he changes the story a bit; he takes a story about a Gentile woman who comes seeking help from Jesus, and he turns it into an adversarial relationship, between a Canaanite and a son of David.  He sets the story as a story between ancient enemies.