“Honor your father and your mothers…” This week, we turn our attention to the fifth commandment. This command focuses on our view of authority.  To many, this command seems so stuffy, so conservative, so oppressive.  If you look at our hero’s and listen to our songs you would think that our real national anthems have the theme…

“Remember the Sabbath…” This week, we turn our attention to the fourth commandment. All of the commandments are important, but this one might be the most significant for our times. We live in an age where everyone feels rushed, overwhelmed, and busy. This command touches on our labor and our leisure. It is meant to…

You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain… When most people think about the third commandment, they primarily think of not cussing. This commandment touches on our words, but it is so much more.  We will see this week that this commandment is more than the words we use…it focuses on who we are.…

Recently famed director Martin Scorsese announced he is working on a new film about Jesus.   Hollywood depictions of Jesus make me nervous. Sometimes, you get faithful attempts to depict Jesus, but other times, you get irreverent folly, like Will Ferrel’s prayer to “sweet Baby Jesus.”   But the temptation and the danger of making a false…

Jay Heinrichs is one of the most successful marketers and salesmen in the world. His pathway into sales began with a disastrous Father’s Day gift and a shrewd salesman who taught him that image is everything. The second commandment is all about the power of images. And few things could be more relevant for us because…

Learning to share is hard. I knew this part of parenting would be a challenge. But over the past few years, as I have tried to learn this myself, and teach other small humans how to do it, there are some aspects of learning to share that I wasn’t ready for. For example, one of the troubles…

I hope your new 2024 year is off to a great start!  I am excited to get back into the book of Exodus, and we will begin this year by taking a deep dive into the 10 Commandments.  Several years ago, when I was in youth ministry, one of our students had one of the…

We will continue our focus on Joy and look at Philippians. And our theme this week will be the connection between peace and joy. Those are two words you hear every Christmas season, but how do they relate? How can you have them? To help us unpack this, we will think about the Goal of joy, and…

When I was a kid, we used to sing a song:  I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!     Where? Down in my heart!      Where?Down in my heart!  We don’t really sing that song much anymore. Maybe it is a little too silly? Or maybe we are a little…

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and lots of really good food!  This Sunday, we finished the first major section of Exodus and point forward to our Advent series on Joy.  Fittingly, we arrive at the institution of the first Passover meal, which could be the original Thanksgiving meal. And central to…