I will be brief. This Sunday, Pentecost, Church in the Cliff will gather to ordain me as a Baptist minister. It is thrilling. I have worked toward this for the past four years and it is a delight and an honor to be affirmed by a group of people that I love so much. It is also terrifying. You must …
John’s Church, Our Church: Friends (Program and Sermon)
Program Sermon Opening This week, Lisa and I celebrated our 19th anniversary. Over the years, people have occasionally asked me how a marriage lasts, why ours works. Sometimes people assume that there is some trick, like never going to bed angry or saying “I love you” at least once a day. That may be good advice that we follow more …
John’s Church, Our Church: Friends
In a world of social networks, the word “friend” gets thrown around a little too easily. With a simple mouse-click, we can become “friends.” We’ve even made it into a verb, an action that only exists in virtual space. But we weren’t the first to do this. Many languages, including Greek, have strong semantic relationships between verbs and nouns. Jesus …