Preachrblog

From the stranger-than-fictions files, check out this story about a pastor running a prostitution ring in Arizona.

Hey, I've noticed that Pastor Matt Harrison has been blogging quite a bit lately. He's definitely worth checking out. You might also want to stop by Harrison for President and check out more about him.

Local story about a pastor clearly endorsing McCain from the puplit. My response on the newspaper's blog site: This pastor crossed the fine line between speaking the truth of scripture and making a logical leap which was not his to make. Clearly, abortion is against scripture. Voting for McCain or Obama is not clearly taught in scripture. Endorsing specific candidates or even specific plans in the political realm is not the place of Christian pastors. Ours is to teach the principles of the Bible and let parishioners connect the dots themselves in the booth. Unfortunately, too many pastors on both the right AND the left muddy the waters between these two areas of life. He should go and learn what this means."Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's"

Matthew 21:23-27 Pentecost 20 “Good and Bad Questions” The question was this, “by what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” In other words, “Jesus, who do you think you are? Where do you get off making a mess of our temple, overturning tables and chasing away our merchants? And just what gives you the right to criticize us, the powers that be? We are the chief priests, the elders of the people! Don't you know who we are?” A lot of questions tied up in this question, “By what authority...?” Now, when Jesus matches wits with the Jewish leaders – it's never a fair fight. Whether they are trying to trap him with a question about taxes, or about marriage in heaven, or some other funny business, these so-called wise men are perpetually rebuked, defeated, and made to look foolish by the simple country preacher. They can't even answer a simple question about John the Baptist without a huddle and conference, and even then, the answer is, “we don...

Matthew 20:1-16 Pentecost 19 “A Very Different Kingdom” “My kingdom is not of this world” Jesus once said. And if you had any doubt, take a look at the parables he tells about his kingdom. Here we have another. The parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. As a story it's simple enough. Even the meaning is easy to determine. But fully appreciating the mysterious sense of Divine justice that lies underneath - this is something that takes great faith. For our Lord and Master is generous with us, and in Christ has given us more than what is fair. The kingdom of this world is a kingdom of rules and laws. We live under them and know them well. You stand in line at the grocery store and get a ticket at the deli counter. First come, first served. When you get to a stop sign, the person there first has the right of way. And when you do your job, you expect every two weeks or so, for that little piece of paper you can take to the bank. It's the way the world works – you ea...

Students of scripture have long observed the significance of the number 40 - a time of testing or preparation, a sojourn of sorts, after which something good usually happens. 40 years in the wilderness, 40 days/nights of rain to start the flood, Moses life divided into three segments of 40 years, etc... My clever wife, thinking like a mom, heard a pastor making the point about the number 40 when she realized - "Pregnancy is 40 weeks! Hey, Jesus was 40 weeks in the womb, too, huh!" Not only did she see that after the 40 "something good" happens, but my lovely Lutheran lady connected it to Christ too. What a fun insight...

Pentecost 18 – September 14th, 2008 Genesis 50:15-21 (Matthew 18:21-35) “Forgiving in the Place of God” If you've ever had anyone hurt you in life, you probably know what a grudge is. When you hang on to that hurt and hold it over that person who hurt you. When you bear anger for them and desire to see them suffer. Our memory is short when it comes to love, but a grudge can last a lifetime... Joseph's brothers had hurt him. They sinned against him. They sold him as a slave, off to a foreign land, cut off from his family and everything he knew. They might as well have killed him. But God was good to Joseph, and despite slavery, an unjust imprisonment, and against all odds, Joseph ascended almost to the throne of Egypt – second in power only to Pharaoh. His dreams and wisdom had insured Egypt would be well fed when the drought and famine came. God watched over Joseph, and blessed him beyond imagination. So when his brothers came begging for food years later, when Egypt ha...

Pentecost 17 – September 7th, 2008 Matthew 18:1-20 “Jesus on Sin” Today's reading really has four segments, each of which could be a sermon in itself. So as I struggled to choose a direction for our sermon today, I found myself looking for the common thread throughout this reading. And one word seems to stand out here: sin. Whoever causes a little one to sin – it would be better for him to have a millstone around his neck and be cast into the sea. If your eye causes you to sin – pluck it out. The one sheep out of a hundred is lost, because of sin. And the master seeks him out. And if your brother sins against you, go and tell him. Sins bound on earth are bound in heaven. Sins loosed on earth are loosed in heaven. Yes today Jesus is talking about sin. And if one thing is clear from all this, it's that sin is a big deal. It's a big deal for Jesus, and that makes it a big deal for us. It's a serious matter. One of the things we sinners like to do is minimize the seriousnes...

Pentecost 16 – August 31st, 2008 Matthew 16:21-28 “The Christ Must Suffer...” We've been reading our Gospel Lessons from Matthew for a while now. And now we've reached a turning point in this book. For the first 16 chapters or so, Jesus is busy convincing his disciples, in word and deed, that he is the Christ. Peter puts the exclamation point on it with his great confession we read last week, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”. And with the ah-ha moment reached, Jesus transitions his disciples, and us, the the second great truth of the Gospel. The Christ must suffer, die, and rise on the third day. Point 1: Jesus is the Christ. Point 2: The Christ must suffer, die, and rise. Both points important for the disciples' faith, and for ours. For like Peter, we are tempted to miss the point, either point one or more often, point two. And what a contrast for Peter. He had just made his great confession, that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus commends him, but doesn't rea...