CMCL Sermon — August 27, 2023 — An Alternate Understanding of the Book of Job
The following was presented as a reflection on August 27th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 9:30AM service. Part 1: Introduction When Susan told me about this “Choose Your Own Lectionary” series, I think she was thinking that maybe I’d be willing...
Being ‘Good’ Doesn’t Fix Racism
This was published in the Winter 2021 (vol16 no1) issue of Plumb Line, the Elizabethtown College Peace Fellowship Newsletter (p 2-3) under the title "Being 'Good' Doesn't Fix Racism: Why Confronting Racism is Especially Hard for White People." Recently I had the good...
Rockway Mennonite Church Sermon — October 4th, 2020
The following was presented as a shared reflection by my spouse, Susan, and myself in the online service for Rockway Mennonite Church (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) on October 4th, 2020. The sermon references two readings: Daniel 5:1-12,22-30 and these words from...
LTS Chapel Sermon — March 27th, 2019
The following was presented as a reflection on March 27th at the Lancaster Theological Seminary Wednesday Chapel service at 11AM. When I first looked at the preaching schedule, and saw my name by this passage, I said to myself, “Oh, there’s been a huge mistake –...
Historic Salem UCC — April 8th, 2018
The following was presented as a reflection on November 6th at the Historic Salem UCC 10:15AM service. I did not truly know what exhaustion was until I entered my second year of seminary. The academic schedule is grueling: six to seven hours of class-time every week,...
CMCL Sermon — October 15th, 2017
The following was presented as a reflection on November 6th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 9:30AM service. Today’s lectionary reading is Exodus 32, verses 1 through 14 – the very beginning of the story, basically up to where Moses manages to convince...
UUCV Sermon — May 28th, 2017
The following was presented as a reflection on May 28th at the Unitarian Universalists of Cumberland Valley 10:30AM service. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don’t...
CMCL Sermon — November 6th, 2016
The following was presented as a reflection on November 6th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 8:30AM and 11:00AM services. For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently attending Lancaster Theological Seminary, pursuing a Masters of Divinity. From what I...
CMCL Sermon — August 23rd, 2015
The following was presented as a reflection on August 23rd at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 9:30AM service. The first church I attended regularly was, at least initially, because of Susan. “Insistence” may be a bit strong of a word, but what she extended...
Quick Update
I apologize for missing two weeks of updates in a row; the first week was supposed to be an article on moons (see the next bullet point), but I ran out of time. This Wednesday was April 1st, and I didn't have a good idea for a joke post until late Wednesday afternoon....
Why Time Travel Kills Free Will (Part 5)
Why A Working Time Travel Machine Implies That There's No Such Thing As Free Will Part 1: Waves and Superposition Part 2: Basic Quantum Mechanics: Young's Double Slit Experiment Part 3: Basic Quantum Mechanics: The Structure of Hydrogen Part 4: Spacetime and Wormholes...
Why Time Travel Kills Free Will (Part 4)
Why A Working Time Travel Machine Implies That There's No Such Thing As Free Will Part 1: Waves and Superposition Part 2: Basic Quantum Mechanics: Young's Double Slit Experiment Part 3: Basic Quantum Mechanics: The Structure of Hydrogen Part 4: Spacetime and Wormholes...