Recent Posts
The Secret Lives of Salmon
Every autumn, as daylight diminishes and water temperatures in the Great Lakes start to sink, a switch goes off within countless thousands of salmon which shouts, “It’s time to go home.”
As a native Michigander, I have a much smaller switch that functions in a similar way. The arrival of autumn calls to me to return to places like the Sable river, the Platte, or Otter Creek where I’ve seen, admired, caught, and eaten so many of these beautiful fish as a result of their annual migration back to their natal waters...
The Power of Forgiveness
My thoughts and feelings have been all over the place during these past few weeks. On a personal level, I’ve attended and taken part in some funerals, which always leave me in a hopeful, but depleted and somewhat vulnerable spiritual state. Simultaneously, there’s been a lot stirred up in the USA because of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. As a proud American, I have stubbornly clung to the belief that what unites us as Americans is significantly stronger than that which divides us. But the last few weeks have shaken that confidence.
Speaking of Charlie...
I’ve had so many conversations and messages about Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assasignation last week. So much so, that I’ve had a few daydreams about chatting things over with him. They’ve gone something like this:*
Me: Hey Charlie.
Charlie: Hey there. Have I been here before? This place seems vaguely familiar.
Me: I’m pretty sure you were here at our church once, maybe back in 2012…
Charlie: That’s it! I came to Elmhurst CRC for an exploratory meeting when I was thinking about going to Baylor University in Texas...
Words Matter
The Bible tells us that God created everything by simply speaking His Word. “Let there be light,” God says, and suddenly the universe is bright and luminous. God speaks the word of “life” and fish, birds, wild animals, and human beings made in his image all spring into being.
As image bearers of God, God has uniquely gifted us with the power of creative, generative speech. Of course, many animals can bark, twitter, or moo in ways that convey basic information to other members of their species. But only human beings can create new realities with words: books, songs, Sci-Fi films, games.
BYOB – Bring Your Own Bible
This Sunday, new things will be stirring all around our church. One of the big new beginnings will be evident in our worship gathering as a nine-month-long “Walk-Through-the-Bible.” There are a few practical recommendations that I’m going to make here in the spirit of helping you to maximize the spiritual benefit from this journey:
Bring your own Bible to church
A shocking recommendation, I know! For many decades, Elmhurst CRC was the kind of church that always had Bibles in the pews, and in more recent years, we’ve projected the words of Scripture on screens, but that’s about to change.
The Ironic Holiday - Ora et Labora
Labor Day has always struck me as the most ironic of holidays. Recognized by our Federal Government since 1894, Labor Days call upon the citizens of the United States to celebrate the dignity and value of hard work by joining together to NOT do any work at all!
This is all a bit tongue-in-cheek, but imagine a world in which birthday celebrations were organized to deliberately ignore the person who was born on a particular day. Or picture a Memorial Day parade dedicated solely to looking toward the future. Or imagine if Christmas Day were devoted to commerce rather than focusing on God’s greatest gift to us — wait a minute! Maybe Labor Day gets the silver medal as an “ironic holiday.”