Category Archives: On the way to Sunday’s sermon

Introducing Elijah: The Power of God in a man who suffers from hunger and thirst

Posted on September 8, 2017 by PaulVK

Politics and Civilization Evolves in Biblical Storytelling We’ve been following the movement of God’s redemptive relationship with Israel through a series of men Judges/Priests: Moses through Samuel Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Jereboam With the transition to kings the tension moved … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Links and Notes, On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | Leave a comment

How to Corrupt the Golden Kingdom

Posted on August 26, 2017 by PaulVK

 Why is it that gold is the perpetual image our hearts long for? consider the fact that before we discovered it was such a good conducer there was really no practical use for the metal besides adornment, yet it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Links and Notes, On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | Leave a comment

In a world that cannot afford stable happiness, Jesus denies us regime change, but offers us himself, and with him more than we could ask or imagine.

Posted on June 9, 2017 by PaulVK

The Good Life It begins by seeing, or imagining “the good life”. We see it in others. We see it on TV. We naturally want it for ourselves and we try to figure out how to get it, and after … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | Leave a comment

In the Ascended Christ You Will One Day Make Our Imagined Superheroes Look Frail and Withered by Decay

Posted on May 25, 2017 by PaulVK

Meta-Stories We live in the age of meta-stories. We call the “franchises”. Star Wars Harry Potter Lord of the Rings The Marvel Universe These franchises have nearly taken over the movie industry. Check out the numbers on the Marvel Cinematic … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Peter’s Four Imperatives and two Images point to the Church

Posted on April 28, 2017 by PaulVK

What do you believe? How do you know?  Is humanity responsible for climate change or are you a skeptic? Do vaccinations cause autism? Will cutting taxes juice the economy and thus raise more revenue for the government? Do diet sodas really … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Links and Notes, On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | Leave a comment

Why the Resurrected Jesus tells Mary to stop clinging and why this dislocates us from the deadly center of the story

Posted on April 14, 2017 by PaulVK

Personal Apocalypse One of the most popular stories in the Wall Street Journal this week is about Charles Murphy. This is how the article was titled Wall Street Made Charles Murphy Successful and Rich, but Happiness Eluded Him After his apparent … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Kendall Jenner in a Pepsi Ad and Jesus on Palm Sunday

Posted on April 7, 2017 by PaulVK

Civil Rights Protesting in 1955 and Today In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. The incident mobilized the civil rights movement and the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a defining event both for the movement and the profile … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How Jesus Rescued a Socially Outcast Woman across Gender, Ethnic and Religious Battle Lines and showed himself to be Lord of All

Posted on March 16, 2017 by PaulVK

Globalization-Pluralism-Skepticism  In his book Getting Religion Kenneth Woodward, former religion editor at Newsweek Magazine reviews the religious movements, trends and changes he observed in America from the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s up to the Obama administration. The list of formal, … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | 1 Comment

Born from Above by the Man from Heaven in a Pluralistic World

Posted on March 10, 2017 by PaulVK

The Great Birkini Debate This past summer the debate about religious clothing in France reached a global audience when police enforced a ban on the birkini, modest swimwear that many Muslim women were wearing. This set up the uncomfortable situation … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | 2 Comments

God tests all he calls. We who are called must pass his tests, even as we stumble.

Posted on March 3, 2017 by PaulVK

“God’s calling must be tested and his servants must pass the test” That’s from Craig Keener’s commentary on the book of Matthew and I think it’s true. The moment we raise the question of God testing people objections emerge. “A … Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged | 1 Comment