e-Soundings

Poverty has Declined!... Wages are Up!... Crime is Down!... Inflation has Deflated!...

This may sound like a dream for the poor and the afflicted.  It may be scoffed at by those who work day by day with the broken hearted and discouraged.  But it’s true! Read more →

Look for the Lonely this Christmas …will they be welcomed?

It’s easy to miss the lonely and the isolated, even in a crowd.  Are you and your congregation prepared to make friends with the lonely? Or are you distracted by all the busy-ness of the season? Read more →

Why doesn’t the “Easter High” last? ...................Maybe we can change that?

“Every morning is Easter Morning” (by Avery & Marsh) is a song that proclaims the gospel like no other. It's sings out the reality that Easter is now every day. Death is no more. This is the Good News that... Read more →

Easter Changes Everything!... .......or does it?

Easter proclaims the most transformative event in the history of the world.  Billions of lives have been changed because of its truth and power.   Yet today, 2,000 years after the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, it’s treated like another secular holiday.  For most people it’s devoid of the power expected the most important “Holy Day” of the year! What if.......during LENT:   We took a small step to turn Lent into the profound preparation for the gateway of Easter it was meant to be. Read more →

“It’s Good Christmas Grief 2021, Charlie Brown”

Are you addressing the widespread grief we are all carrying in your messages this season? Are you being open and honest about your own grief? Back when 9/11 happened, one response was full churches. Grief, along with anger, confusion and... Read more →

Christmas: Candle lighting in the daylight?

What if we approached Christmas not as a memory to cherish, but a moment to take changing our lives seriously? We put a lot of hopes and dreams on our single candle.  We often see ourselves warding off a windy darkness with a flickering flame.  We cast ourselves as heroes of our own story, making our way with courage in a world of woe. But two thousand years of Christ says otherwise. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” -John 1:5 Read more →

Are you Sidestepping the Apocalypse? (...for a "nice" Jesus?)

Do you shy away from the passages that talk of destruction and death, wars and rumors of war, of stone falling away from stone and walls destroyed, of earthquakes and famine? Every year in November, we end the Lectionary year... Read more →

The Town without Trust (A post-modern parable)

Life was Hell in the town that didn’t trust. Arguments were everywhere, from prices in the drugstore to where one sat in the movie theatre.  Nothing was undisputed. Read more →

What’s your “Follow up” for after Christmas?

With a little preparation, the covenant community of Christ, the church, can offer a safe and healing place, a place to start over again and incorporate important changes in our lives. It can a place where life can move closer to God’s dream for all of us if we can help it be that way. Read more →

Pre-Advent: A 21st Century Christmas Imperative

Let’s face it, Christmas has largely become a frenzied offering to the God of Consumerism. Shopping, wrapping, decorating, office parties, family parties, neighborhood parties with drinking and eating will all be offered up with a large dose of nostalgia, excess... Read more →