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The role of a minister has for centuries been characterized in metaphor as that of a Shepherd, in light of that analogy, the following might be the accepted practice of a shepherd of men;

• The Shepherd is always willing to leave the 99 and go in search of the one, lovingly guiding the lost sheep back to the flock.
  (Matthew 18:12)
• The shepherd always listens to God for the wisdom to guide the flock to ever greener pastures.
  (Psalm 23:2)
• The shepherd makes sure the flock partakes of good clear water.
  (Mark 9:41)
• The shepherd never makes the flock beasts of burden.
  (Matthew 23:4)
• The shepherd never lassoes the sheep; hog ties ‘em and fleeces ‘em.

Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the process of self-denial, many traditions require one to “give up something” — [Read more →]

A river, normally peaceful and picturesque, flowed through a small town but heavy rains had caused the stream to swell to a raging torrent that had exceeded flood stage threatening the neighborhood where a crotchety old man lived.   The authorities recognizing the threat to those living near the river and realizing that the level of the river would continue to rise, issued warnings to the residents to evacuate their homes. [Read more →]

In my years of ministry, I have consistently called for unconditional brotherly love to become the cornerstone of society.  The reader will note that I state brotherly love as the context that I call for unconditional love, this context being within a religious realm.  I add “brotherly” to the unconditional love formula simply because some people cannot grasp the simple concept of the need to separate the spiritual from the carnal forms of love, especially when exploring these two greatly different concepts in church or study of  religious formula.  Simply put, carnal desires, while acceptable outside of a Christian Church, are not desirable inside.  And I have made this distinction very plain in my sermons and editorials, so that the reader who might be spiritually immature is not confused. [Read more →]

It’s all in how you look at it.

When I was born in 1957, Dad was 69 and Mom 40 years old, and as you might imagine all of their friends were in the same age group.  People that experienced WW1, the twenties, the depression, the “dust bowl days,” and WW2.  They had first hand knowledge of what life in rural America was like in those years, and when these folks got together and started reminiscing about the hard times and good times of those bygone eras, I listened. [Read more →]

As many of you who know me are aware, I like to use scenes from movies, popular culture so to speak, as analogies to further illustrate the topics I address in my homilies, sermons, and editorials. In this light, at times such as this, I am reminded of the scene near the end of the movie Ghost Busters (#1) [Read more →]

[NOTE: This piece was originally prepared as a sermon for the Interfaith Live 365 Radio Network in 2004, but the concepts outlined are relevant today as more and more people are speaking out against the excesses of minority groups in the Christian Faith today that are giving the Christian faith a bad name.]

In the media each day, we hear reports of how some group has demeaned our faith in some form or fashion in such a way that had that group perpetrated the same offensive against a minority or other faith, the group would have drawn the wrath of the media and the powers that be. To understand why we as a faith are being attacked, we must take a moment to consider one of the basic elements of psychology, in that there is a difference in how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us.  You see, the actions of the few reflect upon the many, thereby causing those outside of our faith to see us differently than we really are. [Read more →]

The root of the word “religion” is usually traced to the Latin religare (re: back, and ligare: to bind), so that the term is associated with “being bound.” The idea may reflect a concept prominent in biblical literature. Israel was said to be in a “covenant” (brith) relationship with its God (Yahweh). In a sense, the nation was “covenanted” or “bonded” to the deity. But what does being bound or bonded mean? Is a slave who is bound or bonded to his or her master in a “religious” relationship? Is a business agreement which binds partners in a legal covenant a form of “religious” binding? [Read more →]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK (May 11, 2007) – Will the church remain faithful to Christ or allow a society consumed with consumerism to package their Savior like just another brand? That’s the concern expressed by Tyler Wigg Stevenson in his new book, Brand Jesus, from Seabury Books. Wigg Stevenson believes that American Christianity has been corrupted by the dominance of today’s rampant consumerism. He warns that certain forces — such as consumerism, the economy, and American politics — have become increasingly idolatrous and threaten the sacred boundaries between the church and the world. [Read more →]