Years ago, the CBS Evening News used to have a weekly human interest feature called On the Road in which Charles Kuralt introduced viewers to unusual stories and people, out in the highways and back roads of the USA. Kuralt is long gone, but, in more recent times, on Fridays, the correspondent Steve Hartman (not the one who was a minister in Wisconsin) has revived the “On the Road” segment. He always seems to be going somewhere. In the old days, Kuralt was happy enough sometimes to introduce viewers to quirky, or odd folks. The newer ones almost always have… Continue reading →

Although we only read the 42nd Psalm today, the 42nd and 43rd Psalms belong together as songs of God’s people in times of trouble. These two were probably originally one song, and it’s really anybody’s guess how or why they became two. They are united by the same refrain that describes what the Psalmist was feeling. And, maybe, we are feeling it too today. It begins: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me”? From time to time, the Hebrew word that is translated as “disquieted” (or “in an uproar”) is used to… Continue reading →

In a recent edition of The Christian Century there was an brief article that showed how much/how little various groups of people trusted in what the government said to be true. It is not surprising that the responses broke out generationally. There are fewer and fewer folk in generations before Baby Boomers now, but the farther back one goes, the higher the trust level that the government tells the truth and that those in government have the people’s best at heart. In a previous issue of the same magazine, there was a survey about how much hope different generations of… Continue reading →

I struggle with sermon titles as many of you know. I understand that most “cutting edge” preachers now don’t use them. Unfortunately, I started out many years ago with titles, and I don’t feel like I’m “done” until I affix one. Today’s title comes from the fact that all three of our passages end up with witnesses of various types giving glory to God. It’s rarely the case, however, that people in the Bible (or you or I for that matter) give glory to God for no reason. The important word in the title is “because.” What kinds of things… Continue reading →