Ruth 1:1-8, 15-17; 4:13-17 It has been said that good things come in small packages.  The same applies to speeches and books.  Abraham Lincoln didn’t think his 272 word Gettysburg Address would be remembered, and yet we recite “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, […]

Romans 8:37-39 I became a theologian at age five.  My parents had gone away for the weekend to a church conference and left my brother Bill and me for the weekend with a kindly church lady, Bertha Orr.  I had never spent much time with a dog before, but that weekend I was inseparable from Taffy, her […]

Philippians 4:4-9 When I was a child growing up in the Baptist church, one summer my mother insisted that my brother Bill and I memorize a Bible verse each day.  We typically chose quick and easy ones like “Jesus wept” or “Judas hung himself”  Or more humorous ones like “Balaam said to his ass, ‘Because you have […]

Amos 5:24 On this Independence Day Weekend, we need to ponder what it means to be a follower of Jesus in 21st century America.  I realize there are many good responses, but given our congregational history of concern for the well-being of our community and beyond, it is appropriate that I share my images of what it […]