After six weeks of exploring perhaps the best-known parable Jesus told, we come now to his hardest parablethe Parable of the Unjust Steward, found in Luke 16:1-13. I was planning to skip this parable and go straight to the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. But over lunch someone (OK, it was Richard) asked if I would be tackling the Parable of the Unjust Steward. It's a ...

The prodigal son comes home. But the elder son does not care that his brother is home, "safe and sound." What a shame. He doesn't even care that there is a celebration. Actually, he does care. He hates it. He despises it. He resents it. Yet, custom requires his presence. The older son has a responsibility. He should work alongside his father as the host. He should be at th...

When our children were younger, we used to listen to audio recordings of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, the pen name of Daniel Handler. Snicket likes to poke fun at our culture's fascination with what is "in" and what is "out." Esme Squalor, one of the more colorful characters in the series, has her heart set on being the "inest" person in town. She is f...

Kerra (my wife), is an English teacher who also teaches several other subjects. But at heart, she is an English teacher. Recently she assigned her class to read an incomplete short story. That was part of the assignment. The other part of the assignment was to write an ending to the story. This is essentially what Jesus is doing with those who are listening to the Parable ...

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus speaks to the relationship problems we have with God. For some of us, it is obvious that we are deeply alienated from God. But for others, our estrangement from God is much more subtle. It's not only the "younger brother" types who are alienated from God; "elder brother" types are too. The parable of the Prodigal Son is a dramatic...

Charles Dickens called it "the finest short story ever written." We know it as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is a story that is deeply embedded with Western Culture. But have we really understood what Jesus was speaking of when he told the story of the parable? Maybe not. The fact that we call the story "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" suggests that we have not unde...

I lost my glasses the other day. I do that often. I put them down somewhere, then forget where I put them. I sometimes I do the same thing with my keys. My glasses are important to me. So are my keys. So, when I lose something of vital importance to me, I search diligently for that which was lost until I have found it. This week we begin a new sermon series titled, Lost...

For a while now, I've been chewing on the idea of incorporating Psalm singing into our worship services. I've introduced a couple of Psalms settings by singing them as we gather before the service starts. You might be wondering, why sing Psalms? While it is practiced in some churchesand there are even some churches that only sing Psalmsmost churches today do not regularly ...

This morning I read where Hillsong worship leader Marty Sampson has decided to walk away from the faith. A few hours later, I saw that Sampson had retreated from that announcement a little by saying he hasn't totally walked away, but his faith is on shaky ground. Sampson's announcement follows on the heels of high profile pastor Joshua Harris' announcement a week or so ago...

We can't know what's in someone's heart." I read that all-too-familiar sentiment expressed on social media recently. A Christian ministry had released a video that attacked some other Christian leaders, associating them with demonic opposition to the gospel. Many people rightly rebuked those responsible and called for an apology. Predictably, though, someone came to their ...