As most of you know, a couple of weekends each year I lay aside my pastoral duties to meet family and friends from around the country for a few days of camping and river rafting.  Next weekend, will be the 89th time we have gathered.  And though the cast of characters...

Some years ago I ran across the amazing story of a young black South African minister who had been arrested by apartheid authorities on bogus charges.  He was terribly tortured by his captors, enduring unspeakable horrors.  Amidst his anguish this young man would...

I begin this sermon where I ended the last one, by reciting Paul’s spiritual calculus for developing spiritual maturity.  He declared, “We rejoice in our suffering because we know that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character...

The crowd began the countdown: “Ten – Nine –Eight – Seven – Six –“   The color commentator screamed over the roar -- “They’re gonna do it!” “Five  - Four – Three –Two – One” – Al Michaels uttered the line of his journalistic life:  “Do you believe in miracles?  Yes!”...

If I say the phrase, “Make my day,” most of you would instantly know who originated the phrase.  Indeed, in our age of media saturation, no small number of phrases from popular movies have leached their way into our common vernacular.  Phrases like, “Play it again,...