Presby-Musings

There's a huge problem brewing in the Church in America.   And when I say this, many of you are going to assume that what I'm talking about is what the dominant Christian voices in our culture have identified as the huge problem in the Church in America--that far too many churches have begun to resemble the culture that surrounds them.   When I was growing up in conservative, evangelical communities of faith we called this, "Compromising," or "Looking too much like the world."  Mind you, this was directed at things like women wearing pants, listening to rock and or roll music, watching the "devil box," commonly known as TV... stuff like that.   Come to think of it, not that much has changed--except the things that are now being called out by the dominant Christian voices in our culture are just different sets of sins and transgressions.   Strangely, I actually agree with the assessment that many evangelical Christian leaders have level...

Over the next several weeks we'll not only be celebrating the season of Easter--which will continue until Pentecost in May--we will also be seeking to answer a very important question.  The question that we'll be wrestling with is simply this:  Jesus is risen, now what?   We celebrated Easter, we got excited, we sang, praised, proclaimed and otherwise lifted up the notion that Jesus is risen.  But what does it mean that Jesus is risen?  What does the Resurrection mean to you and to me--especially during this time after the big celebrations, after the build up and the big event?   I believe that we are Resurrection People called to live in the name of Jesus. We are called to live abundant, purpose-filled joyous, intense, engaging lives--lives lived in hope.  As we learned last week, those who have hope must live different lives--a life lived in hope will inherently be different as opposed to a life lived without it.   How do we live into t...

Over the next several weeks we'll not only be celebrating the season of Easter--which will continue until Pentecost in May--we will also be seeking to answer a very important question.  The question that we'll be wrestling with is simply this:  Jesus is risen, now what?   We celebrated Easter, we got excited, we sang, praised, proclaimed and otherwise lifted up the notion that Jesus is risen.  But what does it mean that Jesus is risen?  What does the Resurrection mean to you and to me--especially during this time after the big celebrations, after the build up and the big event?   I believe that we are Resurrection People called to live in the name of Jesus. We are called to live abundant, purpose-filled joyous, intense, engaging lives--lives lived in hope.  As we learned last week, those who have hope must live different lives--a life lived in hope will inherently be different as opposed to a life lived without it.   How do we live into t...

Over the next several weeks we'll not only be celebrating the season of Easter--which will continue until Pentecost in May--we will also be seeking to answer a very important question.  The question that we'll be wrestling with is simply this:  Jesus is risen, now what?   We celebrated Easter, we got excited, we sang, praised, proclaimed and otherwise lifted up the notion that Jesus is risen.  But what does it mean that Jesus is risen?  What does the Resurrection mean to you and to me--especially during this time after the big celebrations, after the build up and the big event?   I believe that we are Resurrection People called to live in the name of Jesus. We are called to live abundant, purpose-filled joyous, intense, engaging lives--lives lived in hope.  As we learned last week, those who have hope must live different lives--a life lived in hope will inherently be different as opposed to a life lived without it.   How do we live into t...

Easter Sunday has come and gone.  Last week was amazing. We broke attendance records. We had incredible music, awesome energy.  And we proclaimed over and over again through song, prayers, praise and even through the proclamation of the word in the sermon that: Jesus. Is. Risen.   But all of that is over.  This is the Sunday after Easter, which is commonly known as Black Sunday, or Cannonball Sunday among pastor-types--when you can fire a cannonball in the sanctuary and not hit a soul.   I was talking to a pastor friend of mine the other day.  He said, "I feel drained this week, with a bit of a headache and I can't keep my eyes opened."  "Like a hangover?" I asked.  "Yes," he replied, "an Easter hangover."   So this seemed like the perfect Sunday to start a new series on what it means to live into the hope of the Resurrection.  That was also a pretty bad non sequitur.   Seriously, I think it's the perfect Sunday to ask a ...