Category Archives: Faith Shots

Scattershooting about faith, theology, and church

“Where Have You Gone Gerald Ford?”

In the 1968 song “Mrs. Robinson,” Paul Simon asks and declares “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” The next line follows with Mrs. Robinson’s reply, “Joltin Joe” has left and gone away…” In … Continue reading

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Sermon: The Empire Strikes Back/A New Hope

This is the sermon that was for the 3rd Sunday in Advent, the Sunday following the Newtown CT school shooting.  The Scripture was Matthew 2:7-23, the story of Joseph being directed to take Jesus to Exile in Egypt before the … Continue reading

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Lincoln, In Living Color and Prophetic Courage

One day in a discussion with my parents I referred to an event from the 1940’s as happening during the “black and white days” because most photos, films, and newsreel footage of that time are in black and white. I … Continue reading

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Bond, Baptism, and Beginning Again

After seeing the newest James Bond film, “Skyfall,” I thought about the nature of rebooting.  Celebrating 50 years of Bond, the newest edition continues the reboot of the series that began two films ago with the casting of Daniel Craig … Continue reading

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Originally posted on Justine Graykin:
Erica and me, Christmas, 1957 It’s been a rough couple of months. Losing the first cat wasn’t so bad (I wrote a nice article for the newspaper about that). The second cat was a lot…

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Virtual Choir, Communion and Saints

I was driving home from church today, Sunday November 4, when I heard an interview on NPR that struck me.  It was one of those “in the moment” experiences, or as I said in my sermon earlier today, a moment when several … Continue reading

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Eagle “Eyed”

I preached a sermon on God’s presence last week and talked about brushes with greatness I have had.  I forgot about one that I experienced several years ago and shared in my church column then.   As during the sermon, I invite … Continue reading

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A 9/11 Flashback

In 1898, H.G. Wells wrote a story of about a time traveler who builds his own time machine and is able to travel forward 800,000 years. What he finds is a society that seems to be living in harmony, but … Continue reading

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In the Beginning was “Wordplay”

The Gospel of John opens with one of the most well-known passages in scripture, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  For crossword “puzzlers,” the passage might be amended to … Continue reading

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“It’s All in the Attitude.”

When I was pastoring in Bogata Texas I had an encounter that has ministered to me many times through the years.  I was in the sanctuary of the church when the minister at the Baptist church came by to meet … Continue reading

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