Born This Way

My children were both born bald. Our third (and final) child who should arrive in a few weeks will likely also be bald.

One day they will love me for posting photos of them on-line but here they are;

You Never Had A Friend Like Me

My favorite Disney movie is Aladdin. I like the story line, the music, the setting, and the characters. Jafar even is is my favorite Disney villain with Ursula the sea witch a very close second. There is something about his dark sinister voice that I have always liked.

God You're Doing What?

There is an on going conversation in my house right now. It takes different forms but it sounds a lot like this; 'Please pick up your X and Y'. Meaning please pick up your coat and hang it up. Or please pick up your boats and put them on the shoe rack. Or please pick up your dishes and put them in the dishwasher. I suspect anyone who is married with children finds that they have these same conversations.

A Fathers Desperate Plea

I was excited to see my son enjoy Christmas this year. At 3 and a half he is at a great age for it.

The lead up to Christmas was so exciting for him. We had an elf on the shelf, presents under the tree, an Advent calendar/truck that hid chocolates, candies, and even tiny toys. To top it all off we even had a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration with both family and church. He was excited.

The Wedding Party

Not long ago I was reading an article that gave a number of tips about getting the most out of your sermons. One of the tips was of course to blog pieces of your sermon. Since I have this blog that has been laying mostly fallow this seemed like a good idea. So today is my first attempt to shear down a sermon into a more appropriate blog length.

The sermon series that we at Sackville United Baptist Church began looking at on Sunday has to do with the Seven Signs of John. The first sign is the  miracle where Jesus turned water into wine found in John 2:1-11.

Did Jesus Hear Wedding Bells?

In the Gospel of John Jesus debuted his miraculous abilities at a wedding in Cana. But that is not the wedding that people have been interested in of late. For the last few days people have been interested in the question, 'Was Jesus married?' This question has been brought to us by Harvard Divinity School Prof. Karen King. While far more learned people have already weighted in on this I thought I would toss in my two cents as well*.

Your Right Arm

Have you ever heard the expression, 'I'd give my right arm for X'? A teen in my youth group accidently discovered what he would give his right arm for the other day. He quite literally gave (at least temporarily) his right arm to do a cool skateboarding trick. He tried to tackle a rather difficult 360 turn, only to fall, fracture his arm and give himself a mild concussion.. He OK, but he will be in a cast for at least 4 weeks.

In that spirit let me ask you, what would you give your right arm for? Or to phrase it more Christianly; what would cause you to cut off your right hand?

Holy Week- Easter Sunday- Are You Living In A BC World or an AC World?

***This Blog is Adapted From An Easter Sermon I Gave April 13th 2009. It Is A Little Longer Then My Average Blog Post. Being Easter I Hope You Don't Mind Granting Me Some Extra Space.***

Do to some recent changes in my life, resulting is some altered sleep patterns I have had, let’s call it the opportunity to watch some late night TV. And I have found a few things, first there is nothing good on, and second infomercials can be entertaining. Because of infomercials I have seen a lot of before and after moments. I have watched men exclaim with joy about their new found hair, I have heard testimonials of satisfied customers talking about various products meant to give you more energy for the day, and of course the ever popular before and after our amazing weight loss program. And all of these things made me think about Easter. And while I know that sounds strange at first, after all what does the “mega ab buster” have to do with the most important day on the Christian Calendar?

Holy Week-Saturday-A Very Long Day

Holy Saturday. Is there such a thing? Good Friday has come and gone. Jesus was arrested, tired, crucified, has died and is buried. Easter Sunday is a whole day away. So where does that leave us on the Saturday of Holy week? Is there such a thing as Holy Saturday? Or should we just skip over this day entirely and go about our normal lives until Sunday?

Many would do so. I am sure many people go to a Good Friday service and are reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus. Likewise I am sure many people attend a Easter service to celebrate Jesus' defeat of death. But what about Saturday? There are few services to attend, and no obvious action of Jesus to mediate on; is today just a day to ignore?

You could, but if do you'll miss a lot.

Holy Week- Good Friday- Whats So Good About It?

Today we have reached Good Friday. A dark and hard day to be sure. A day of suffering, a day of pain, a day of death. Justice is abused. Goodness disregarded. Courage evaporates. Friendship fails. Tears and blood are shed. It seems like sin, sadness and death have won. The light of the world was snuffed out.

Given all of this, have you ever wondered why we call today 'Good Friday'?

Holy Week- Maundy Thursday- What's For Supper?

We have now reached Thursday of Holy Week, or as some know it by Maundy Thursday. Today is the day that Jesus shared his Last Supper with his disciples. You know the story right; the night Jesus was to face betrayal, torture, and death he wanted to have supper with his disciples.

Jesus was the host, he made the arrangements, and he had a lot to do any say in a very short window of time. The last supper may well be the most important dinner party the world has ever known. Today we are going to ask with a childlike wonderment, what's for supper?

Holy Week- Wednesday- It's Quiet Too Quiet

For the last few days I have noticed that people have found their way to my little corner of the Internet by asking questions to Google. Something like 'What did Jesus do during holy week Monday/Tuesday?' So you may have found you way here today asking; 'What did Jesus do during Holy Week Wednesday?' I can sum up Jesus' activities in one word.

Nothing.

That's right all is quiet in the Gospels about the Wednesday of Holy week. It seems that Jesus took the day off.

And when we consider the week Jesus was having, and about to have, isn't that interesting.

Holy Week- Tuesday- The Battle Of Words

After Jesus received a kings welcome to town, and created a prophets scene at the temple you can rest assured that the ruling religious leaders were unhappy. They were in charge of one of the greatest temples, in one of the greatest cities, during the most important celebration of the Jewish calendar. But who was getting all the attention; some back woods preacher who didn't seem to have enough sense to know whom he was messing with.

But Jesus wasn't in Galilee anymore he was in their play ground now, and the time had come for them to show Jesus who really ran the religious show in Israel.

Holy Week-Monday Table Flipping Redux

The parade is over. The crowd has dispersed. What will one day be known as Palm Sunday has come to a close. The evening is setting in, and Jesus stops by the Temple before heading back to Bethany for the evening.

Evidently Jesus did not like what he saw.