Sheep Psalm 23:1-6 and John 10:22-30 Weldon Phillip Keller grew up in Kenya, the son of missionary parents. He died in 1997, having authored 35 books on a variety of Christian subjects. As a young man, his primary employment for eight years was as a sheep owner and rancher. And […]
“Reminders to Follow” Psalm 30 and John 21: 1-19 During a fishing trip with the other disciples, we learn that Simon Peter is naked. We’re not told why, but I offer this theory. In those days, fishing was an incredibly physical, messy, and smelly business. So while the disciples had […]
“Cognitive Dissonance” Acts 5:27-32 and John 20:19-31 A woman once told me that she has struggled for decades with the parable of the prodigal son. When I asked her what was troubling to her about that passage, she told me that the father’s actions, as described in that text, are […]
April 21, 2019 – Easter If What You Say Is True – Luke 24:1-12 Construction on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris began in the year 1163. Nearly 200 years later, the doors first opened to the public in 1345. The church, long considered an architectural masterpiece, welcomes approximately 13 […]
“Maundy Thursday Reflections ” – April 18, 2019 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 and John 13:1-17, 31b-35 William Lynch reminds us that we live by hope. “Everything that we do in life is based on the hope that doing will get us somewhere, though sometimes we know not where.” [1] By this definition, […]
“Uncontainable Joy” Psalm 118:1-2, 21-24, 26-29 and Luke 19:28-39 We’ve all heard someone say, “oh, if those walls could talk.” And maybe they can. The Gothic structure of the McCoy United Methodist Church is located on a busy thoroughfare in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Once one of the most vital and […]
“Poured Out” Isaiah 43:18-21 and John 12:1-8 We should probably start in the beginning. Or, more specifically, at Christmas. Luke tells the story of Jesus’ humble birth. His parents, Mary and Joseph, are travelling without connections and without reservations. Mary is 9 months pregnant. She is exhausted and aching. Joseph, […]
“Endless Love and Righteous Anger” Luke 15: 1-3, 11b – 32 As a child, he was a good student who tested well. But when he became an adolescent and young adult, things began to unravel. At first, the questionable behaviors were more mainstream. Cigarettes. Alcohol. Vaping. Marijuana. In time, though, […]
“Longing for Home” Psalm 63:1-5, 8 and Isaiah 55:1-9 “For decades, the North Hill neighborhood in Akron, has been a place for the newly arrived: Italians, Croats, Poles, Irish. And now Nepali-Bhutanese.” [1] In fact, much of Akron’s population growth since the turn of the century is rooted in immigration […]
In the Name Psalm 27:1, 3-5, 11-14 and Luke 13:31-35 “There are six Herods in the Bible, and each one is pretty much the same guy: a petty tyrant with a touch of megalomania, paranoid, callous,” beholden to the Romans, “religious but in a conniving way, rich, and often cruel.” […]
