Todays Thought Archives - Calvary United Church of Christ

Todays Thought

Getting in God’s Way

The church I grew up was small, but there were a lot of amazing people doing wonderful work in the name of Jesus. There were also a few who got in the way. It may well be that I have been able to keep doing the vocation I do because I witnessed the imperfection of…

Prayer

Soon after I came to Calvary I got an angry phone call from a parent of a child in Confirmation class. We had been discussing prayer, and when this person’s daughter asked me what prayer did, I said, “I don’t know”. The class was intrigued by this – they had been taught their entire lives…

Why are Some Followers of Jesus So Afraid to Die?

Like many in my vocation, I have witnessed a lot of death, having presided over at least 600 funerals. Those who have pastored larger congregations have done far more, and for many Catholic priests, it seems like that is their full-time job. It may seem to some that this magnitude of witnessing the end of…

The Church’s Next Steps

This pandemic has offered us a chance to do everything differently in the church – well, almost everything. Maybe it is better to say that we are doing the same things in very different ways. It has been an opportunity for people who don’t live nearby to participate in worship, bible study, and even pastoral…

Disagreement

Last week I wrote a thought about Kim Kardashian, and I knew there would be disagreement about it. I was stating an opinion and asking questions because I really wanted to hear what others thought. I got some push back, a lot of agreement, and, overall, I think I grew in how I understood the…

Imperfection

When Jesus sent His disciples out to do His work, He sent them two by two. I think there are a number of reasons for this, and it informs how the church often struggles in our work. Here are just a few ways in which working as a team is better than working alone:1 –…

Why We Read the Bible

Growing up Methodist, I used to hear wisecracks about how Catholics never read the Bible and only did what the Pope said. I have news for you – most Methodists I knew never read the Bible either, and most Catholics take what popes say with a grain of salt. I began to read the Bible…

Objectification

The other day an image came up on my newsfeed that struck me as wrong, yet I was not sure why. It was a picture of Kim Kardashian, and the headline was something like, “Kim K studies for the Bar Exam in a String Bikini”. I wasn’t bothered by the picture – that kind of…

So Tired of Thoughts and Prayers

The recent guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin in the murder (okay, manslaughter) of George Floyd is, I heard in a report recently, the first time a police officer has been found guilty of such a crime. I have not had time to research that, but if it is true, it is horrifying. One significant thing…

Selfish Religion

Last week I wrote about clergy being afraid to speak the truth, and the response I got was pretty amazing. A number of clergy in closed Facebook groups gave it a huge thumbs up, and a few even said that they had never seen this experience put into words. I am glad I was able…