RoboPreacher

been so afraid of everything / i need a chance to be reborn  A sermon on the so-called "fall" Are you ready ?!?   Well? Are you?!?   Folks, just sitting there isn’t exactly the hearty “yes” I was hoping for! But I get it. I know it’s Sunday morning . I’m sure you’re a little groggy . And I bet you just want to sit there like a bump on a log, too!   You know what? You’re not going to get off that easily ! Sorry! No, you’re going to have to participate a little this morning!   Because I’m feeling extra punchy , it’s not one of those subjective questions you can just answer with whatever idea pops into your pretty little head, either! No, you’re going to have to put in some work ! You’re going to have to think ! This question has a right and wrong answer. Fun. Right?   Wow. If your first response was half-hearted, I think the other half of your heart must have just died on the line! But don’t worry. This isn’t a trick question. In fact, I’m going to s...

we grew up in spite of it Okay, before we get started, let me give you a little context. The first thing to know is, this is a dark point in Israel’s history…   Israel itself , after years of internal conflict, had split into two factions. A kingdom divided . And as Jesus himself would put it, about 700 years later , a kingdom divided against itself can not stand. And sure enough, a divided Israel wasn’t able to stand for long… So after years of fighting amongst themselves the Assyrian kingdom came knocking.  First, Assyria sacked the northern part of the kingdom.   And now , the king of Assyria and his armies show up at  Jerusalem . Jerusalem, the capitol of Israel. Jerusalem, where the great house of God, the temple, resides. Jerusalem… * READ ISAIAH 36:1-3, 13-20; 37:1-7; and then 2:1-4 * Yes, this is a dark point in Israel’s history. It’s surprising this moment in their history is even told. Because, you see, the an...

...these shackles i've made in an attempt to be free A sermon from Philippians There are days when faith comes as easy as a spring sunrise. Things go the way they ought to. Everything just falls into place… The trouble, though, is those days are fewer and further apart than the other days. The days when faith does not come easy. Whatsoever…  Too often, right when we wake up, what faith we’ve managed to cobble together is already threatening to break apart. We have to gather our faith up. We try to hold it together. We do what we can to get through our days with our faith in one piece. Intact.  As my favorite musician quips, “ We need faith for the same reason it’s so hard to find. ” That’s the trouble. It isn’t easy to keep up the faith, is it? We hear the pastor drone on, how God is a God of love. After a short hour we have to leave . We have to live most of our lives out there, in the real-world.  The headlines of terror and trag...

i got my own nation oh yeah; stuffy people warning. I won’t quote any obscenities; but if you look up their lyrics there will be naughty words. (Do I need to put a warning up for that?) On of the proudest moments of ministry was late, up in the rocky mountains. I had done the wedding of two great friends. As their reception was drawing to a close, I asked the DJ to play one last song, my favorite Doomtree song: Fresh New Trash . And I rapped every line. My favorite line: “ even after death & dirt / let them know who said it first / put it on your favorite shirt / rap won’t save you / sell em absolution with a verse .” The next day folks seemed to be surprised I was so familiar with that genre, ersumthing.  Perceptions aside, I’ve always felt that those of us who are called to the ministry of the Word should have a deep love (or at least appreciation) of rap/hip-hop. Somewhere in his voluminous output Will Willimon quipped that words are all ...