When “I don’t know” is the right answer

When I was pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Menominee, Michigan (north of Green Bay in the UP), I taught confirmation class to our seventh and eighth graders every Wednesday afternoon.  The Lutherans owned the town and so we did things their way.  Wednesday was “church day” and the schools were pretty good about obeying the rule – no extra-curricular activities on church day.  All the Lutheran kids trudged off to confirmation class after school on Wednesdays, and the Presbyterians followed suit. Continue reading →

When Disaster Strikes: the earthquake in Japan

Many of us woke up to the news of a disastrous 8.9 earthquake in northern Japan and we have already seen the dramatic video of earthquake destruction and tsunami flooding.  The next several hours and days will tell the extent of the damage and loss of life.

As members of the human family and especially as followers of Jesus Christ, we will want to respond – to reach out in prayer and with whatever helping hand we might give.

So, please pray.

This is one of those situations where the most effective way to reach out with the compassion of Christ will be in sharing our financial resources with those in a position to help.  You will hear and see many appeals for your financial help, most of it legitimate, some of it not.  I encourage both your generosity and your caution.  Specifically, if you feel called to respond immediately I call your attention to our Mission Committee’s and Session’s endorsement of World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance as agencies we can trust to be good stewards of our resources and compassionate responders in the name of Christ. Continue reading →

Charlie Sheen, Brandon Davies and the Chances for Chastity

So who hasn’t heard about Charlie Sheen, the star of the television sitcom Two and a Half Men and the all-around bad boy whose recent meltdowns are the object of so much embarrassed fascination? Foul-mouthed, abusive, addictive, promiscuous, Sheen’s out of control life is paradigm of life lived without moral, spiritual, relational or emotional boundaries. When asked if he has any hope of returning to work after being released from the cast of the television series, Sheen said, “Hope is for suckers and fools.”

Charlie Sheen should be the object both of our contempt for his disregard of the gift of life and opportunity given him by a gracious God and of our pity and compassion, for only in its extreme is his life not typical of those in our time when the only standards of truth and righteousness are those we happen to choose. (Judges 17:6) Continue reading →

Defense of Marriage Actions

Obviously the title of today’s post plays off yesterday’s news that the Justice Department will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act.  But my thoughts are not about politics, playing to the base, justice or the human hubris that supposes the definition of truth and reality is solely ours to make.

I have been in the marriage business for a long time.  Thirty-three years of my own marriage and eighteen years of helping couples prepare for marriage and officiating at weddings.  Becky and I would never claim that our marriage is perfect – it isn’t – nor have all the marriages I have helped begin been perfect; some of have not survived, though, thanks to the grace of God, most of them have. Continue reading →

The Gospel and Cost-Benefit Analysis

I hope you have heard me say, as I do from time to time, that I have the best job in the world. I mean it. I pray that I never forget it.

One of the many joys of the job is the privilege of serving as a sounding board for new ideas and curious questions and as the recipient of your best thoughts, puzzled musings and sometimes serendipitous discoveries. Thank you.

Just this past week one of you was kind enough to send me the link to a New York Times article that probably fits in the last category of serendipitous discoveries. With gratitude to my correspondent, I forward it to you: As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret. Continue reading →