Jesus Has Left the Building     Luke 24:44-53 Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! I remember it like it was just yesterday.  I was sitting in the backseat of the next door neighbor’s car on my way to a day as a new first grader at Our Savior Lutheran School.  The parent who was driving turned on the radio to the blaring voice of the news announcer reporting that Elvis was dead…. Read More

As the Children, Youth and a New Kind of Christianity Conference closes today, I was asked to pray this prayer.  It’s adapted from a piece written by Ina Hughes, and it’s too beautiful not to share. We pray for young people Who put chocolate fingers everywhere, Who like to be tickled, Who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, Who ask for $20 before they leave with their friends, Who erase holes… Read More

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said. No prayer… Read More

I wrote recently at Associated Baptist Press about my friend G. Travis Norvell and his quest to take prayer to the streets.  Because of space I didn’t have time to tell some details I wanted to share, so here’s some more on the Rev. G. Travis Norvell’s prayer station at Jazz Fest in New Orleans last week. Here’s a little background.  Rev. G. Travis Norvell staked out a little station outside the front… Read More

Everything Changes: From Barren to Bountiful John 15:1-11 Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! In the light of the resurrection we’re considering today and in these days following Easter, how life has changed.  What about the message of Jesus becomes clear and compelling, finally, now that we know the tomb is empty?  As we discussed last week, our lectionary takes us back, back to before the resurrection, back to the ministry… Read More