Presby-Musings

If you had to list the top five most well known stories in all of the Bible , the story we're studying this week would be one of them. All you need is two words---two names, in fact---and all of your memories of when and where you first remembered hearing this story just might come rushing back to you:   David & Goliath . It happened just then, didn't it?  You had this rush of familiarity when you read it.  Even if you didn't really attend church all that much when you were a kid, the story of David and Goliath is one of those stories from the Bible that just sort of transcends church. I don't remember the first time I heard the story, but I remember where I heard it: the Fairfield Road Baptist Church in Greenville, SC ---in a tiny classroom that was in the basement.  My Aunt Sylvia was my Sunday school teacher, God rest her. The thing about these very familiar stories is that we think we know everything about them.  In fact, pastors often avoid ...

This week I am continuing to preach through the book of 1 Samuel, focusing on the life of the book's namesake:  The prophet Samuel , himself.  Strangely, so much of the life of Samuel is intertwined with two of the other great characters in the story: David and Saul.  But as we discovered last week, the real main characters in these ancient narratives are a bit more elusive. Let's start by diving right into the text for a change--1 Samuel 13:1-14: 1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes. 3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 So all Israel heard the news: ...

This week I am continuing the sermon series that we started a few weeks ago entitled, "Samuel: A Study in Character," which will take us through the some of the most fascinating stories from the life of the great prophet and judge, Samuel. Samuel's birth narratives and the story of his prophetic calling have definitely set the stage for what comes next.  It's evident that when it comes to Samuel, we are not dealing with just your every day run of the mill prophet.  Samuel was  on a whole other level, but even this great man of God had some low moments.  We'll be skipping a couple of chapters in the book of 1 Samuel, but I want to highlight two things that stand out to me in the passages we are leapfrogging to get where we are going today: First, there is this moment when the people of Israel are freaking out because the Philistines are about to descend on them and give them an old fashioned Ancient Near Eastern butt whooping.  They come to Samuel becaus...

This week I am continuing the sermon series "Ancient Stories" by exploring one of the great, dramatic characters in the Old Testament :  Samson.  The story of Samson encompasses Judges chapters 13-16, which I will leave for you to read on your own---and I encourage you to do just that, because it's awesome reading. What I'm going to do here and in the sermon itself, when it's preached live and in person, is to offer an overview of the story of Samson, rather than read the whole thing, which would take a really long time and make my sermon even longer than usual.  You're welcome. We've labelled these sermons, "Sunday School Remixed," because nearly all of the installments of this sermon series are familiar stories that most church-y people have heard before.  And the story of Samson is one that definitely sort of sticks in your imagination when you're a kid.  Even if you don't know the whole story, you know that the story of Samson is ...

This Sunday we'll begin a brand new sermon series that will begin our church's journey through the Old Testament .  We'll be encountering some of the great characters in Scripture along the way---characters that undoubtedly dominated many a Sunday school class for some of us church-y types. I'd like to think that this sermon series is kind of a "Sunday School Remixed," sort of thing.  We're going to be going over some familiar ground for many of our church members but hopefully we'll all learn some things that surprise us when we do.  And if you are tuning in and you don't have much of a history with the Bible---you will definitely get the chance to learn more than you bargained for if we do this right... Part One of this first series in our study is centered on the story of Gideon and is entitled: "Ancient Stories: The (Very) Reluctant Hero ."  This story comes right out of Judges chapters 6 & Judges chapter 7 In the first...

In the first chapter of the book of Joshua in the Hebrew Scriptures , God speaks to Joshua, who has been waiting for his mentor and leader Moses to return from talking with God about life, the universe and everything. And God says... "Moses, my servant is dead." God doesn't try to break it to Joshua gently.  He doesn't ask him to sit down and pour him a cup of tea before breaking the news to him.  He just tells him bluntly, "Moses is dead... now you need to get going."  There is no going back to search for Moses to make sure that he is truly dead. "Moses is dead.  Now go..." I made the graphic you see at the outset of this blog into a poster that hangs on the wall in front of my desk.  It reminds me of two things: 1)  The past is the past.  You can't go back there.  You can't live there.  God doesn't want you there.  When it's time to move forward into the future that God has in store for you---you better get moving.  ...

When I was a kid I used to like to go to Burger King .  This was in the days before the Happy Meal , and Burger King pretty much flogged McDonald's when it came to kid friendly crud because they gave you a paper crown to wear. I would wear my paper crown with pride even after I left the BK.  As my mom ran errands and did her thing around town with me in tow, other children would stare at me in jealousy because they knew I had just eaten at BK.  I felt like... well, royalty. Wearing a paper crown sort of does something to your psyche when your five years old.  At least it did to me, which may tell you way too much about my psyche.  At any rate, I felt different.  There were all the poor children shuffling through the grocery store without a crown and then there was me.  King.  Ruler of all that I surveyed.  I could sit in the grocery cart and wave to them with that sort of backhanded wave that kingly people wave.  The crown, howeve...