Agape House UIC

Today, this week, I give you permission to just breathe.

Breathing is one of the most central, most important, and most vital activities our body performs all the time without us having to be completely aware of it. For the most part, that is quite fortunate so that we can concentrate on other things like voting, and paying bills, and arguing with people we do not understand. However, since it is involuntary, that also means it is easy to take for granted.

Our news stream has given us quite a few opportunities recently to lash out and call for blood. A horribly thoughtless and deliberately disingenuous movie that smears the Muslim faith is released. Its defenders simply cite "freedom of speech" as if there is no other with which we can measure such projects. This election season is shaping up to be ever more nasty and discordant than every election previous.

I recently had a friend deliberating on what to do in a difficult relationship with another good friend. After much energy spent and struggle to reach out to the friend and renew regular communication, the struggle became too much for this first friend.

[This is taken from a sermon given at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church on Sunday July 8th, 2012. The texts were Mark 6:1-13 and Psalm 48.]

This is the text for the sermon I gave this past Sunday April 15th, 2012. The text was John 20:19-31 and the topic was forgiveness. This is the script of the Forgiveness Skit that I reference in my sermon.