Month: September 2022

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you …” [Luke 17:5-6]. A few years ago, in “P.C.” times (i.e., “pre-COVID”), a parishioner shared with her pastor that her adult daughter was going through a difficult time. The woman asked if the pastor would be willing to talk to the daughter and he quickly agreed. Prior to the meeting, the mother filled the pastor in a bit. Her son-in-law had, for the second time, been caught in an…

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land [Jeremiah 32:14-15]. In the late summer of 1977, one year after Jane and I had returned to Gastonia following my law school graduation, we decided that I’d take a short break from law practice in order that we might head down to Atlanta for a long weekend.…

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! [Jeremiah 19:22 – 9:1] As I noted a few weeks ago, the prophet Jeremiah writes to a particular audience at a particular time in its history. The audience is the kingdom of Judah, more particularly, those who live in Jerusalem. The time is roughly 600 B.C.E. As we saw several weeks ago, when we examined portions…

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. [1 Timothy 1:12-14]. Among the many stories told by our friend, the master preacher/storyteller, Will Willimon, in his provocative, challenging, and entertaining Accidental Preacher: A Memoir (Eerdmans, 2019), is that of a “sophomore dream trip to Europe” in 1966, which Will says he…