Matthew 1:18-25 The Gift of Christmas

Christmas can be a risky Holiday. Sometimes the season is more like a disaster than a celebration. Just ask Kevin McCallister from the movie Home Alone what he thinks of the Holidays. He’s the kid who was supposed to fly to Paris for Christmas with his family. But instead his family leaves without him and two robbers try and break in. Or if you don’t think Christmas can be risky, you could ask Buddy. In the movie Elf, Buddy is a full-sized man who discovers he’s not an elf. He realizes that none of the real elves like him and he’s not very good at being Santa’s helper. So he journeys to the land of New York City where he finds a father that also doesn’t like him. Or what about A Christmas Story and Ralphie who just wants a Red Ryder BB Gun. But everyone keeps telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”

Mark 14:53-15:39 The Rejected King

Have you ever been rejected? Has anyone ever treated you as an outcast? Do you ever feel that everyone is on the inside except for you? Have you ever been bullied or made to feel less than? In the news today it seems like we hear weekly stories of bullying. A few months ago it was the story of a woman bullied in her teens. On her school’s class reunion page she wrote a poem about her pain. Her former classmates felt so bad they raised funds for her to come to the reunion. A few weeks ago a football player for the Miami Dolphins walked away from the NFL. This guy is six and a half feet tall and weighs several hundred pounds. But he felt like his teammates were bullying him so he quit. According to bullyingstatistics.org half of all teens are bullied online. And most of the other half are the ones bullying them. Have you ever been rejected? Has anyone ever treated you as an outcast?

Seminary Reading List - M.Div Year 3

A picture of my bookshelf post seminary.

Go to this seminary books Amazon.com reading list (aff link) to see all the books I was assigned to read my third year as a Master of Divinity student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Depending on what order you take your classes, and what electives you sign up for, this reading list could easily change. But it should still give you a good idea of the types of books you may read during your time in seminary, and some books you could read to better prepare yourself if you haven't yet begun. Each class usually has between 1,000-2,000 pages of required reading. Enjoy!

Picture by: Jonathan Romig

Mark 2:1-12 More Than A Healer

Every town has their local celebrities. My home town of Estes Park has cowboy Brad. He plays his guitar and sings folk songs and western music. He has a white cowboy hat, a big belt buckle, flowing blonde hair, and is about 50. Cowboy Brad can draw quite a crowd of around one to two-hundred people. Cowboy Brad might not sound very famous but two hundred people isn’t bad in Estes.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 The Reality of the Gospel

I like watching a reality television show called “Capture.” Now I know some of you might rightly cringe when I say the words “reality television.” But stick with me for a few minutes so I can tell you a little about “Capture.” Capture is a mix between capture the flag, paintball, and the Hunger Games. And since I’m from the mountains of Colorado, I like all of those things. In Capture 12 teams run around 4,000 acres with cameras and high-tech equipment. Their goal is to survive for a month without getting captured by other players—hunters.

Christians are Horrible People

I recently saw a page in a magazine dedicated to how the movie stars are just like us common people. They walk their dog! They drink coffee! They eat food! They go out in sweat pants!

Sometimes, Christians act the same as non-Christians. The non-Christians are just like us! They flip out! They curse! They back stab each other! They're hypocrites!

We have a problem here.

Acts 2:1-21 The Perfect Witness

I experienced a tornado warning my first day on the job here. A week ago Monday I was sitting in my new church office. The first half of the day had gone pretty well. I had unpacked my library and met with Pastor Dana. But I was ready to study because I knew I was going to preach. So I sat down and began to read through the book of Acts. And then my phone vibrated. It was a warning message. It was a warning message about a tornado in Chelmsford. It said, “Tornado warning. Take cover now.”

Acts 1:6-8 Sometimes I think the Church is a little like a fairytale princess

Sometimes I think the church is a little like a fairytale princess. The story of Rapunzel is a story about a girl with long blonde hair. When she is a baby she is stolen away from her parents by an evil witch. This evil witch keeps her in a tall tower hidden away in the forest. Rapunzel grows older and her blonde hair grows longer. It grows so long the only way in or out of the tower is by climbing her hair. So for Rapunzel it seems almost impossible to escape. And not to mention what the scary witch might do if she tries.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:4 The World Needs The Word

In the 1930s Hitler’s Germany began to rise. And by the mid 1930s Hitler had the church of Germany firmly in his grasp. The church of Luther had become the church of Hitler. This change did not happen overnight. In the 19^th and early 20^th century German Scholars began to dismember the Bible. 

You are perfect just as He is

"For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21

The Inequality of the Cross

Today is good Friday. It is the day Jesus died on the cross. The cross is the divine symbol of inequality. And Jesus chose to take this divine symbol up for us. He didn’t have to. No one forced him. But he did anyways.