On being Willing and Obedient
My wife and I recently celebrated our 50th anniversary. Countless people congratulated us and we were thankful. Reflecting back to the early years, I feel
July 5, 2024
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Box-cutting Thoughts
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Previous Weekly Word Blogs
From 2012 through the spring of 2020, I faithfully did a blog every Tuesday just to keep my hand in the grind of preparing to preach every week. Then my website caught whatever virus was going around back then. I pride myself in being computer savvy, and with the extra time I had on my hands (COVID 19) canceled the workshops I had planned for the year, you would think I would fix it quickly. Instead, I bought the domain name www.morethantheflu.com and built a new website focusing on the transition we Americans, as well as our local churches, were going through. Only with the spring of 2024 did I get back to publishing a weekly word. Hope you find it fun.
The Rushmore Context
In 1978, the United Methodist Church took an incredible risk and ordained me. I spent the next thirty-odd years serving both rural and urban congregations.
June 11, 2024
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Rethinking Deborah
I am working on a historical fiction book set in time of Herod the Great. I have a character who is a single woman in
June 3, 2024
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Expect Growth
Jesus’ point is that a seed can start out small, but like a weed, grow to takes over the garden. Why should our faith become so obvious?
June 2, 2024
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The Other Trinity
On Trinity Sunday we consider the new normal of Christianity. Religion at the time of Jesus was mostly a local affair. Most people alive then,
May 21, 2024
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3 Fold Challenge
John challenges our faith: Do you believe that Jesus is God? Has he become the light of your life? Does he live with you in your everyday life?
May 20, 2024
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Come over here and help
If we ignore the little nudges of the Holy Spirit, we risk losing our awareness of God’s mission. What does he want us to do
May 19, 2024
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A Funeral Dinner for Dorcas
Each of us have been blessed by people who day after day did “good works and acts of charity.” Shall I name Margaret? Shall I name
May 2, 2022
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When God Speaks to Us
“A church is like a green house. Different plants growing under the same roof. If you go into ministry, you’ll have to learn how to
April 26, 2022
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Thinking about last week
This is the nature of systemic injustice. Everyone knows, but they each accept their given role in the shared lie.
April 19, 2022
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How did you come to Easter?
We receive on Easter morning the blessing that Jesus spoke to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, but believe.” Reflect upon all that
April 13, 2022
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Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday?
Palm and Passion Sunday are not in opposition. They are two acts in the same drama. The story of Palm Sunday provides two of the five
April 5, 2022
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Past, Present, and Future
This Psalm talks about planting seeds. Sowing with the expectation that God bringing about the harvest. Verse 5 says that sometimes you sow those seeds with tears
March 28, 2022
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Where the Real Sin Lies
Young people grow into an ever-widening circle of people for whom they must show love and compassion. First it is their siblings and parents, then
March 21, 2022
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The Randomness of Tragedy and the Richness of Grace
In Luke 13, Jesus is blunt. We must accept the total unavoidability of life’s traumas. Whether you are a good person, who never misses church, or
March 13, 2022
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Transformed or Fading?
We have each learned our own techniques for putting a veil over our face and diminishing the good that should come from our mountain top
February 17, 2022
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The Poverty Connection
This is how Christianity is defined. Not by theology, but by compassion. This is how Jesus is honored, not by merely holding clerical office, but
February 8, 2022
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Why Fishermen?
Jesus saw hidden potential in the people he invited to follow him. Sometimes so well hidden that even those he called didn’t see it. There was
February 1, 2022
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God’s Message Is Political
Jeremiah was called to preach a message that would change nations. In Jesus’ first sermon, he reversed the “our nation first” rhetoric of his day’s
January 25, 2022
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Hometown Blues
We both envy and hate the people who leave town and make it big. Bob Dylan hasn’t been back to Hibbing, Minnesota other than for
January 18, 2022
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Watever
Mary wants there to be wine. Jesus is at the beginning of a ministry that will lead him to the cross. He will, at the
January 11, 2022
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One of a Crowd
People gathered each day to be baptized by John for the repentance of their sins and to prepare them for the Kingdom of God. And
January 4, 2022
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Closing Out the Books
The only way to credit your spiritual account is to show compassion to strangers, that is, the people who are unable to pay you back.
December 28, 2021
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Holiday Pilgrimage
During the holidays, we all tend to complain about our family obligations. The truth is, it’s not that we have too much at Christmas that
December 21, 2021
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