Presby-Musings

When I was a youngster I wasn't exactly what you might call "easy on the eyes."  Not that I am now, mind you, but back then---things were pretty messed up.  There is a school photo I recall that stands out far more than any other.  I was perhaps twelve years old at the time. For some reason I was clad in a dress shirt, a sweater vest and a clip on tie that had the most garish decor could imagine silk screened on it.  My hair was sort of plastered to my head, my ears were sticking out and my enormous glasses sort of rounded out the ensemble perfectly. My eyes are crossed pretty severely in the photo on account of the fact they tend to do that because I am blind in one of them.  Sometimes, like in this photo, they cross more than others. To sum things up... I was looking good.  Here it is: When I think about that photo, I just want to reach into it and put my hand on twelve year old Leon's shoulders... and shake the living crap out of him. "Dude! ...

This week we are beginning the first of a three part series, featuring " I Am Second ," a unique program that is designed to help connect people to Jesus in a very earthy, messy, awesome way. So what does it mean to say "I Am Second?"  For me it means that I am constantly being reminded of my place in line when it comes to the things that truly matter.  It's a new way of knowing and being known---which is the fundamental desire of all human beings, really.  It's a new way of living life to the fullest, free from the burdens of doubt, fear and the expectations of others.  It's a new way of being defined by the relationship we have with Jesus... not by religion. Jesus didn't come to live, die and be raised from the dead to form a religion.  I know that sounds kind of heretical to say---but there you go.  I have a t-shirt that has the word "Heretic"emblazoned on the front of it.  I was wearing it when I met Andy Stanley , the pastor of on...

This week I am continuing my sermon series on the book of Acts , entitled "Big Church"---a series based on the idea that the Church is a movement, not an institution.  As we continue to affirm each week:  Jesus didn't create a mission for the Church, Jesus created a church for his mission. The passage of Scripture that I'll be preaching from this week is Acts 10.  Yup.  The whole chapter.  I tried to break it down a bit, but in the end I decided to just preach from the whole chapter.  I'm not going to reprint the entire chapter here in the blog, though. Click here to read the whole chapter, which I highly recommend that you do right this instant.   So this whole story starts off with a vision--- Cornelius , the centurion has one of an angel who tells him to go send for Peter , the Apostle, and then the story jumps to Peter who has a vision of a sheet full of non-kosher animals that he is commanded to "kill and eat." A word about visions migh...