I love listening to how children describe God. It’s even more interesting seeing how they draw God. One morning, a Sunday school teacher asked the students to sketch God. Some of the pictures showed God portrayed as a huge sea turtle, carrying the world on its back; God as a bright sun; God as a…
You know, many people believe in reincarnation – in one way or another. Did you know that the car you’re driving may have had a previous life in another form? True! Decades ago it became scary how fast the mountains of junk cars were piling up; hundreds of millions of them! Finally, it occurred to…
In the first chapter of Mark there’s a powerful story. Mark is one of four gospels that relate the life story of Jesus and the Good News of God’s love for all people. Having four different Gospels is like having four different stations to watch the MLB highlights! Have you ever switched between news channels?…
One day, out in the wild, wild, west, a cowboy was riding down an old wagon trail. All of a sudden as he rounded a bend, he saw a man, whom he recognized as a locally renowned scout, lying down – flattened in the middle of the trail, his ear pressed to the ground. As…
“God … bring down retribution on my persecutors.” Jeremiah 15:15 Oh, Jeremiah is mad! Jeremiah was calling upon God to inflict pain and punishment on his tormentors – it hurt even more because they used to be friends, now they’re enemies. These are tough, harsh words from the mouth of an angry man. Jeremiah had…
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom …” – Matthew 16:19 I clearly remember when I held in my hand, for the first time, a most precious set of keys! What an incredible feeling of power, elevated status and sweet freedom came over me when my grandpa placed in my hand the keys…
Wow! What an amazing passage! I like Acts 4 because it gives us a peek at how the early followers of Jesus came together and lived in an authentic community. All throughout the gospels we read that first, John the Baptist, then Jesus, preached about the immanence of the Kingdom of God (or realm of…
I love the story in Matthew 14 where Jesus asks Peter to walk on the water – what great drama about faith! Peter was willing to risk everything on just the word of his teacher. We hear in the Scripture that the disciples have been asked by Jesus to take a boat and go on…
I love worship! I love to worship! I love to worship alone and in a group. It’s such an important part of our lives and has such a great emphasis in our services. Many hours and many people go into creating our weekly worship services. Worship is so many things – and I’d like to…
A few weeks ago I participated in a community foot-washing service celebrating freedom and justice, and supporting comprehensive immigration reform creating a pathway to citizenship. Jesus is our role model in being active in social justice and advocacy and it felt so right to be there. The words of San Diego Council President, Todd Gloria,…
