“Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NKJV)

The Thessalonian Christians were anxious about those among their number who had died, and yet Jesus had not yet returned. Would their loved ones miss the resurrection from the dead? Did gospel hope extend beyond the grave as we wait for the end of all things? Their friend Paul wrote to remind them that “we do not grieve as those who have no hope.” He went on to share his understanding of how the end would come and the place of those “who sleep.” “Therefore comfort one another with these words,” he concluded.

My mother died Sunday, January 17. The photo in the header was taken Sunday, January 10. She had returned home after the worship service in the chapel at her retirement community. The following Wednesday she was taken to the hospital with pneumonia. Her weak heart was not strong enough to fight the battle she faced, and she died four days later. Continue reading →

On Tuesday LPC will host the meeting of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.  We’re expecting upwards of 250 people who will begin gathering at 11:00 for a pre-presbytery meeting workshop, we’ll offer box lunches for those and other early-arrivers at noon, and then the business meeting will begin at 1:00.  The agenda is fairly light as presbytery meetings go, and we’ll probably say good-bye to our guests around 4:00.  Thanks to those LPC people who are serving as hosts in a variety of ways. I’m eager for my colleagues in the presbytery to get a flavor of LPC grace.

One of the items on the agenda is the installation of the presbytery’s new officers, the moderator and the vice-moderator.  As some of you know, I will be installed to a one-year term as moderator. Continue reading →

Some of you have heard of the Emergent Church. If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry. You didn’t miss much. Post-modern, post-denominational, post-Evangelical, post-liturgical; once they figured out all the things they were post-, there wasn’t much left. Seriously, if you want to know more, there’s a Wikipedia article, and a decade ago some serious people (here and here) wrote about them.

Emergent churches were nothing if they were not cool, and the best thing about them was their names: Mars Hill, Solomon’s Porch, Quest, Epicenter, Water’s Edge, Reimagine. Among the frequently used names for emergent churches were those with 242 in them somewhere. The 242 Community, the 242 Village, Legacy 242, and Vintage 242. Get it? 242, of course, was an oblique reference to Acts 2:42, the description of the first church and how they “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Continue reading →

The Christmas story is all about telling the story. An angel appeared to shepherds keeping watch over their sheep by night. Luke records what the angel said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

After going to Bethlehem to see the thing the Lord had made known to them, the shepherds, in turn, tell others. Luke says, “all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” Luke 2:18

The Apostle Paul makes a plea for the whole world, that all people might hear the story. Then he asks, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” Romans 10:14-15 Continue reading →

For reasons very different and mostly not comparable, I love both the Christmases we will celebrate on December 25. I love better Christmas and I love lesser Christmas.

Yes, the Christmas that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ is the better Christmas, and it always will be. I love the story. I love a crèche with shepherds gathered around the manger and the mother and child, Joseph looking on from behind. My life has been forever changed by the reality that “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Continue reading →