Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell...
Why I Love The Walking Dead
posted by DJL
If you’d told me even four months ago if I would be really looking forward to the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead for the second half of its fifth season, I would have thought you were crazy. I couldn’t, quite frankly, figure out the growing cultural fascination with zombies. Really? Slow moving, mindless creatures that eat whatever living thing they can find and can only be killed with a terminal shot to the brain? I just didn’t get it. But then one friend kept mentioning what a great show it was, and another told me that if I could get through the first episode with lots of shooting zombies in the head, I’d be hooked. And,...
Fear
posted by DJL
What are you afraid of? Something happening to your kids? Losing your health? Not finding a job? What are you afraid of? Fear, of course, is something with which we’re all quite familiar. Too familiar. Why? In particular, why do we spend so much time being afraid when we live in a society...
John 3:1-2a
posted by DJL
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night… We are venturing into the territory of the most famous verse in Scripture: John 3:16. To understand it well, we should anchor it in the larger narrative John supplies. And so we’ll begin with...
Epiphany 5 B: Freedom For
posted by DJL
Dear Partner in Preaching, Well, it was another thrilling match-up. All the players had prepared well, sparing no expense in terms of time and effort. The stakes were high; the competition was fierce; and the whole world watched…. And, no, I’m not talking about the Super Bowl, but rather the Super Bowl commercials! I have to admit, though, that as much as I found the Budweiser puppy endearing and the Katie Couric/Bryant Gumble BMW commercial clever, nothing really equaled the uplifting quality of last year’s Duracell commercial featuring Derrick Coleman of the Seattle Seahawks. Do you remember that one? At a young age, Derrick lost his...