Seventeen82

  Another Death, Another Day   Like many, I was grieved by the news from Buffalo that a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in what is likely a racially motivated act. Then, while most of us were still processing through that terrible information and asking all of the usual questions, there came word that a young man had massacred 21 people at a school in Uvalde, TX after killing his own grandmother.   I remember in 1999 when the Columbine massacre occurred. It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime event. I was a junior in college and thought “Surely this won’t happen again.” But then came so many other bloody scenes over the years, churches, shopping centers, concerts, and more schools. Sometimes these acts are racially motivated, other times they’re the result of apparent mental health issues. Sometimes we don’t know the reason, other than that there is wickedness in this world that wants to end the life the God creates.    We read news of this nature with a sad mi...

When I was a Student of Theology roughly twenty years ago, it was fairly customary at the time to be asked during committee and/or presbytery examinations to name the so-called Seven Signs and the Seven "I Am" Statements found in the Gospel of John. I say "so-called" because there are technically more than seven signs in John (e.g., John 2:23; 20:30) and there are more than seven "I am" statements (e.g., John 6:20, albeit this does not follow the "I am X" formula). But these signs and statements do help to structure the first part of John's Gospel, and they help to establish the apostle's overall goal and theme: "These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31). I was even assigned one of the better known of the "I am" statements when I preached before my current presbytery: "I am the Good Shepherd" (John 1...

  This past Monday evening, the news began to leak that it seemed that the Supreme Court was going to overrule Roe vs. Wade. To say that this leak and news was seismic in effect would be an understatement. Immediately, there were “hot takes” on seemingly every platform one could find. It seems that almost any and every one had an opinion on what this overturning could mean. Emotions ran high, tongues ran loose and opinions were shared freely.  As someone who is a Christian and a pastor, I place myself firmly in the pro-life camp. I have served on the board of a crisis pregnancy center; pastored in churches that have supported crisis pregnancy centers prayerfully and financially; prayed against abortion; serve in a denomination that has a position statement against abortion. I believe that the Bible very clearly speaks against abortion and I stand on that.  So, when I first heard the news that the highest court in our nation seemed ready to overturn a precedent of pro-choi...

  When I was in Boot Camp down at Parris Island there was nothing better than receiving a letter, though there is a funny story about that. As a kid I made a lot of money cutting grass. One place I mowed regularly that did not provide me with a reward for that labor was at my house. My dad figured giving me a place to live, food, and clothing was a sufficient kick-back. To that end I had a little over an acre to push mow towards the end of high school in Pocahontas County, WV. A common wish I made of my father was that a riding lawnmower would be a nice admission to the family. He responded to me request by noting that I was doing a fine job with the one we had. Well, not a month-and-a-half after being under the care of Chesty Puller I received a note in the post, contained in that envelope was a polaroid. While my dad was not Ansel Adams I could clearly make out a Murray product that had four wheels, and a deck underneath that was clearly meant for taking the grass down a few pegs...