Is it a basketball game if no one keeps score?  I remember coaching our church’s basketball team for children.   It was a mixed team with girls and boys including my son, all under 9 years old.   When we played our first game I learned that we weren’t going to keep score.  Continue reading

In many families, people believe they can’t attend events at churches other than their own denominations. The Roman Catholic Church formalized this idea a number of times over the years, including in the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism, which was first published in 1885.The Catholics were not the first to put together a catechism. The lack of religious instruction that both the clergy and laity had dismayed Martin Luther, and he published Luther’s Large Catechism in 1529. Continue reading

Solomon is quoted as saying “There is nothing new under the Sun”  (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and while many churches are just starting to consider having a Saturday worship service, it’s actually been around for a while. Yes, there is that Sabbath Day vs the Lord’s Day issue but I’m talking about the churches that are finding that a Saturday worship service may be good stewardship of their existing resources and may also open the doors to people that are busy working on Sundays or may just prefer a Saturday service. Continue reading

One of the lines in the Apostles Creed that often bothers people is the phrase "He descended into hell." The Apostles Creed is ancient, dating back to the 4th century, and while not considered authoritative or inspired in the same way as the Bible, it is still read in many of our churches on a regular basis.  Continue reading

Most babies go through a number of stages in learning how to walk.  Typically, they start crawling, begin to pull themselves up and learn how to lean on either something stationary or their parents, brother or sister and then finally they can take a few steps before tumbling down.  Continue reading

It’s impossible to talk about the Catholic Church without considering the role of the pope, and for a Roman Catholic it’s impossible to talk about the pope without talking about Peter. I’m a big fan of Peter. He was impulsive, often spoke first before he really thought through the question, and made some mistakes. I am a fan because I can relate. Peter was also the obvious leader of the apostles. He was an amazing man and a great leader, and, like most of the apostles, he was martyred because of his belief in Jesus Christ.   Continue reading

In AD 380 the Roman emperor Theodosius made Christianity the state religion, calling the new religion Catholic. In one generation, Christians went from being persecuted, to becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire. Between the 4th and the 6th century, much of what we know now as the faith of the Roman Catholic Church emerged. At the center of this was the powerful Bishops including the Patriarch of Rome who took on the name "Pope" by the sixth century.  Continue reading

This week we celebrate the fourth week of advent.  Advent is a season of for many Christians that includes the four weeks prior and culminating with Christmas    The season of Advent is considered the beginning of the church year, primarily because it recounts the beginning chapters and verses in the New Testament.  During Advent, we also look forward and prepare for the second coming of Jesus.  In the Bible, these prophecies are referred to as the “last days”. Continue reading

This week we celebrate the third week of advent.  Advent is the time of preparation including the four Sundays and weeks before Christmas.  Interestingly, before there was any celebration of Christmas, Christians would celebrate the Ephany (January 6th) and prior to that feast new believers would prepare falso for four weeks, for Baptism.    Continue reading

  This week we celebrate the second week of advent.  Advent is from the Latin word for “coming”, or “to come”  Each of the four Sundays in Advent are assigned one special focus or application:  Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.  In this second week of advent we look at Love.   Continue reading

This week, many Christians around the world will be celebrating the first week of advent. The word “Advent” means coming or arrival. Continue reading

The turkey is stored in plastic, the gravy gelling on a cold plate. The dinner was really fantastic, And heads were all bowed for grace. Continue reading

  The Book of Psalms in the Bible is a collection or anthology of 150 individual hymns, laments, warnings and benedictions.   In Psalm 14, there is definition and characterization of the fool that says, ”There Is No God” Continue reading

I think perhaps there has been too much emphasis on hiring the right person for the job.   From my perspective, the problem hasn’t been on being too intentional about the hiring process; intentionality is good.  However, the problem started with an over emphasis on creating detailed job descriptions for candidates, likely a result of new electronic career sites that instantly bombard the company with hundreds if not thousands of applicants.  Continue reading

Many have read these account in all four gospels of Jesus feeing the 5,000.   For the benefit of our more contemporary culture, the 5,000 count was of the men.  Many theologians and theologians would guess that there were 13,000 to 15,000 including women and children.  Continue reading