Every Sunday we pray that the Kingdom might come and then when it does, we sometimes miss it because it is a place of surprises. One time when Jesus was describing the Kingdom to his friends he said that the confident should not be so sure of themselves. He said that in the Kingdom the last will be first and the first will be last. And he told them that people will come from east and west and from north and south and take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. What a glorious surprise for a world fractured by geography, politics, economics and race. (more…)

You may have seen the front page story about religion and obesity in this morning’s Beaver County Times. (read all about it) The Chicago Tribune reported the story last week with more emphasis on the original research. (read all about it)

In the meantime, last week’s Time Magazine published a fascinating article on the resurgence of the “health and wealth,” “name it, claim it” prosperity gospel that is being preached in many mega churches and in other corners of American Protestantism. (read all about it)

So what are we to make of all this? What do Christians and what does the church have to say to consumerist and materialist culture if we are as obsessed by food and money as that culture is (and maybe more so)?

We can and should be concerned about the spread of the prosperity gospel and the spread of the American waistline. But what about us? What about me? How does the life of discipleship (and discipline) go with us? Does my giving (of money and more) to others and my willingness to deny material gratification (which sometimes includes food) for the sake of spiritual gain truly reflect the lordship of Jesus in my life? And who holds me accountable for how I live?

What do you think? (In order to comment, you must register, but that’s easy. Just click on “Register” at the top of the right side menu panel.)

A Nation of Wimps?

A couple of years ago a Psychology Today article raised the possibility that we are becoming “a nation of wimps.”

Perhaps it’s today’s playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And… wait a minute… those aren’t little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves.

So the article begins (read all about it)

While the case may be slightly overstated in the article, there is something to what the author sees in the dangers of “hothouse parenting.” Let me give you a couple more quotes and encourage you to read the entire piece on your own: (more…)

Park People reflect on being the youngest child as we begin a sermon series, “A Life After God’s Own Heart.” Our first text was from 1 Samuel 16, Samuel’s anointing of David. Afer Jesse’s seven oldest sons pass by the old prophet and none bear the mark of the one chosen by God, Samuel asks if there is another. “There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep,” Jesse replies, convinced that God would not call the youngest to be king. But God rarely conforms himself to the things of which we’re convinced.

I asked Park members to reflect on being a youngest child (or having a youngest sibling). Here’s some of what they had to say: (more…)

I’ve mentioned before an astute observer who has noticed that when we’re asked that quick, “How are you?” we no longer respond with an equally swift “fine.” Now our instant answer to an innocuous “How are you?” is “busy.” I’ve caught myself replying “busy” to a friendly “how are you?” one more than one occasion and thinking “busy” many other times even if my answer has been a little more polite. (more…)