Get Her Words Out

Buffy Season Eight #18 - Time of Your Life, Part 3

"Summers, you drive like a spaz."

"And that phrase stood the test of time?"

Holy Cookies!

My mother's church got flooded out of their building after a big storm at the beginning of August and have been meeting at the presbytery offices for the last few weeks.

This last Thursday they held a work day to finish up things so that they could be in the building this morning. I wasn't  able to go work, but I did make a couple of batches of cookies (oatmeal raisin and chocolate-chocolate chip) for the people who were working. I delivered them around noon Thursday and that was the last I thought of them.

This morning, we went to our separate churches as usual, and as usual, I went to meet her at her church after the services.

As I walked into the building, people walking out complemented me on my cookies, which was nice of them.

It turns out that there was more to it than that. Apparently, in the excitement about getting back into the building, they forgot that it was a Communion Sunday and no one had thought to buy bread. So they used my cookies.

I'm sorry I missed it. I've been told that the visual of their interim saying the Words of Institution and breaking an oatmeal cookie in half was quite a thing to see.

Buffy Season Eight #17 - Time of Your Life, Part 2

"Vampires are lurks, a spin is a lie, toy is bad, but spled is good.

Boy the English language is losing it.

I should have treated it better. . ."

*Plus an OMFG!!! moment at the end*

I have a question

Why are all the organic/gourmet breads at the grocery store too big to fit in the toaster?

Is it not green or something to want to toast my bread?

New Sermon -- Excluded Middle

For St. Paul Presbyterian, Aurora, Colorado

Text: Matthew 14:22-33

I’m going to begin this from what will seem like a weird place.

I don’t know, because I’ve only visited here a few times, but it seems unlikely that you’ve heard many sermons that have started from this place.

You see, the thing is, for years when I’ve read this text, one of the first thing that has come to my mind has been what a jerk Jesus is in this passage.

There, I said it, for a long time I have though that, in this passage, and in particular in his interaction with Peter, Jesus is a bit of a jerk.

I mean c’mon, Peter steps out of the boat, Peter walks on water, then Peter realizes how amazing, how incredible what he’s doing is, has a moment of hesitation and starts to sink.

And what does Jesus say to him, to the only other human who has even come close to having enough faith to be able to walk on water?

Not “Good try, buddy,” or “Great start, you’ll get it next time.”

Nope, all Jesus has to say is, “You of little faith.”

“You of little faith.”

Jerk.

Random Fun

Starts Tuesday Night!

Buffy Season Eight #16 - Time of Your Life, Part 1

"Buffy had an outfit crisis. We should have seen the warning signs."

Well I've never been to New York -- I want to look. . .New Yorky. . .and there could be weather."

Too Wonderful? -- A New Sermon

For First Congregational Church, Greeley, Colorado, June 15, 2008

Texts:    1 Corinthians 1:20-31
                Genesis 18:1-15

There’s a really obvious sermon to be preached about this text.  A sermon abut how Abraham and Sarah’s faith was so great that, in their old age, God rewarded them with the thing that they wanted most, a son.

The sermon would then go on to talk about how it can happen to you, too.

The person preaching the sermon would tell you if your faith is strong enough, if you pray sincerely enough, if you live rightly enough, then God will reward you with health, wealth, children, whatever it is that you most want, “Wealth and pelf and fame and name and all of that noise.”

Yes, I’m sure many a televangelist has preached that exact sermon. It’s a very comforting sermon, one that can make you feel good about yourself, about God and about your future and there are a lot of people in the world whose faith is based solidly in that sermon.

Three years ago, I did an internship as a chaplain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.  Grady is right in the heart of downtown Atlanta, and is part of Atlanta history and culture.  Grady has been in Atlanta since 1890, and you can see in the architecture of the oldest parts of the current building the history of racial segregation, that lead to it’s being known, especially now among older African-Americans as “The Gradys.”

Buffy Season Eight #15 "Wolves at the Gate" Part 4

"My giant-sized teammate is fighting a mechanized version of herself on the streets of downtown Tokyo. . .I've been preparing for this day my entire life!"