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 sermon for Palm and Passion Sunday was titled "Hating Life." It explored the words in John, "Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life will save it." Are we called to a life-hating faith or is there a...
Last Sunday my sermon featured the important concepts of repentance and mind. Many Christians do not fully grasp the connection between some of Christianity's key concepts with the larger context of Greek philosophy and religion. The message of repentance (metanoia) is an invitation to change...
Last Sunday, my sermon addressed our need to recognize both the objective and subjective aspects of our consciousness. We live in interesting times, when the objective or rational mode of knowing has displaced much of the old subjectivity. What we see emerging, however, are new...
Last Sunday I spoke a little about Presbyterian history. Did you know that Presbyterian polity influenced the rise of democracy and that many in England called the American Revolution the Presbyterian Rebellion? However we self-identify, our deeper self is without boundaries, without center or circumference,...
Our adult spiritual ed class has been discussing Reza Aslan's book "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth." Her words not only raises questions about the historical context of Jesus of Nazareth, they also point to the distinction between the Jesus of historical...
