"Does God Cuss?" Is the Bible just children's stories about heroes and virtuous women? People who say that they believe "every word of the Bible," may not be aware of some of the more notorious words and stories contained therein. What does it mean to take...
The title to my sermon last Sunday was "Does My Body Have a Soul?" Is there something to our existence that is not bound by time, body, or space? Can such consciousness survive death? Or is the better question, can our consciousness survive birth? Are...
I've been building a shed, trying to get it dried-in in the middle of all this rain. So, I've been thinking about shelter and refuge in the midst of life's storms. Where or what do we go to for refuge? Sometimes the refuges we choose...
Sometimes I tie my children's sermon, a short conversation with the children, to my main sermon. I often joke that the children's sermon is just as much for the adults as the children. Last Sunday I spoke about being big and being little. I have...
In last week’s sermon I asked "Can we touch transcendence?” "Are we capable of transcendence?" Our spiritual traditions teach us that we indeed can. If that is right, then the only other question is "Do we want to?" [caption id="attachment_12347" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Pastor Pat Bailey[/caption] http://youtu.be/aC5vYS-bIVY Editor’s Note: Dr. Pat...
The title to my sermon last Sunday was "Have You Been on Your Knees Lately?" The posture of bowing or kneeling is one that reflects an attitude of heart. It can be seen as a posture of submission, as when we kneel before a king...
Last Sunday was Trinity Sunday in the church year. The Trinity is one of the ways that we picture God in the Christian tradition. When we try to literalize it, it makes no sense to modern consciousness. When we tap into the rich spiritual history...
Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday – and also our annual Blessing of the Animals. So, with a little help from my dog friend Dinigi (Athabaskan for “Moose"), I preached a sermon that addresses that most important theological question: Do Dogs Go to Heaven? [caption id="attachment_12347" align="aligncenter"...
Many Christians in the West, and especially the US, view substitutionary atonement as the only way of understanding the cross of Christ and Christian salvation.What is substitutionary atonement? Is it biblical? Is it what the Apostle Paul meant when he said "Christ died for our...
My wife, Debbie, and I recently visited our families in Atlanta. The focus of our trip was to address some financial and housing issues of our aging parents, my 84-year-old mother and Deb's 80-year-old father. We knew that it wasn't going to be easy. So...
