Presby-Musings

For God so loved the cosmos as to give the Son, the only one, so that everyone having faith in him might not perish, but have the life of the Age.  - John 3:16 (literal translation from Greek) John 3:16 is probably one of the most famous and well-used verses in the entire New Testament--which is why so many of us miss the intricacies of its message.  We've grown too used to it. Which is why I used a literal translation instead of one that might be a bit more familiar. Read it again with new eyes. Those first few words---For God so loved the cosmos   We usually translate that into "world," but isn't cosmos a whole lot bigger? And what about the words so loved ?   God so loved  the cosmos--the universe--all of Creation.  When you think of it in those terms doesn't it expand your view of this God--the kind of God who still loves, still dotes on what God has created? But it's the next words that truly set the stage for all that comes in the ...

This week we are continuing the sermon series that we started last week--a series that is going to take us all the way through the season of Lent and the month of March.  The series is entitled, [Not] Your Average Church:  Why we need real church for real people.  The goal of this series is to first uncover why people have stopped coming to church and then to discover what we can do to turn those negatives into positives... Last week we discovered that the biggest reason people have stopped coming to church is because they feel judged.  We also learned that the way we can overcome those feelings of judgement is when we practice Radical Hospitality. This week we are going to find out what the second biggest reason why people say they don't go to church.  In poll after poll, people indicate that one of the main reasons why they don't go to church is because they feel like they are being lectured when they go.  The sermons they hear are lifeless, ir...

I can't find my birth certificate.  I thought I knew exactly where it was, but it's not in the file marked " birth certificates " in our family filing cabinet.  My three son's birth certificates are there, and my wife's as well.  Not mine. I can get another one, I suppose.  It will take some emails, perhaps a letter, maybe even a phone call and some proof of my identity--apart from my birth certificate that is.  I had to have an official copy at some point over the past twenty years because I was issued a passport, and then reissued one ten years later.  I am not sure exactly why this bothers me. It shouldn't bother me really.  I don't need to put my birth certificate on the wall of my office to prove that I am alive---do I?  The proof of my existence is that I am typing this, walking around, talking and such.  Regardless of whether I have a certificate to prove it, I exist. Recently, I heard a story of a lady who stopped receiving ...