The Only Thing That Matters

1st in the series, “ChurchWorks.” Delivered May 22, 2016, First Baptist Church of Frederick, Maryland  A Wedding Homily I’m going to let you in on a little trade secret: very few pastors write new messages for every wedding they do. They just reuse basically the same one over and over again. You’ve probably...

Everything is Amazing But Nobody is Happy

A message delivered on May 15, 2016 Comedian Louis C.K.  who is known for his biting, acerbic and sarcastic humor, had a bit that he did on Conan O’Brien that in 2011 went viral on the internet and had over 4 million views. This is the funny part of the message, so you’re allowed to laugh. ...

The One Unchosen

One day Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he is approached by ten men who had a highly contagious skin condition known back then as leprosy. They approached him but kept their distance. This was because for a long time leprosy was thought to be highly contagious. We know now that it isn’t. If what the...

Real (Not Ideal) Church

Thirty-three years ago, Pam and I were newly engaged and getting ready for our June wedding when the warnings started coming in. Warnings about marriage. The warnings were disguised as wisdom from those who had successfully navigated the matrimonial waters for many, many years, but they were warnings...

The Myth of the Lone Genius

Do you know who invented the light bulb? If you said Thomas Edison, then you are…kind of right. The real story is more complicated than that. Other inventors had been making various forms of incandescent light bulbs for more than 80 years before Edison started working on it. Edison filed a patent for...

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