The Meaning of the Cross

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed. Glorify the Risen Savior Today with other believers as the church. May God richly bless you in this, a...

This is the day in between. Hope was buried. More than this, hope went to hell. The world was caught between the promises made and the promi...

The seven "last words" of Christ from the Cross (with various prayers reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, © 2004,...

We come soon to the end... and to the beginning. The Cross - its experience, pain, and satisfaction of wrath - begins today, not tomorrow. T...

Did you know that Holy Wednesday, today, the Wednesday of Holy Week, is also called "Spy Wednesday?" This is seen as the day Judas...

Yes, in some corners of Christendom, Holy Tuesday is a holiday. The parable of the ten virgins is sometimes developed today in various servi...

Holy Monday. That's what today is called. In some Christian traditions the withering of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22) is the focus. Ot...

So, on earth, one of the most interesting things scheduled to happen in these next two weeks in 2011 is the royal wedding. Riveting. Between...

There's something about Palm Sunday every year that makes the shame and pain of the Cross seem farther away than ever. There seems to be...

Sometimes the days race by with heartless fury. This week has been a painful one for many I know. Death and dismemberment, literally, are wh...

Ephesians 2:14-16 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by ...

Philippians 3:18-19 says, "For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross o...

The Cross underscores all the bad things that happen to us in this world as a result of our sin. So, when people do us wrong, for instance, ...

The odd thing in considering the crucifixion of Christ is that daily life in this world went on as usual until it was over. That's when,...

Yes, this is true. It doesn't mean that the activities within a church service themselves are my life's purpose, it means that they ...

Each year I'm a little frustrated by the fasting part of Lent. The year we as a church gave up complaining and wore wrist bands to remin...

John, my namesake, stood there with the women. Often the point made by this fact is that everyone abandoned him, at least all the men, all H...

Kelsie talked one of our neighbors into giving her one of the flowers from her flower bed. As she plucked it and handed it to my little girl...

It's been years, but the images of young, dead bodies rendered into all manner of burnt, punctured, partial, twisted and ripped versions...

From the preface of this new book about "The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus," here are three excerpted sentences: - "The e...

The Cross, representing the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is an event that touches the life of every single person alive today. The convinced...

Church is always fun, in the way the Holy Spirit makes it for our desperate and weary souls, but the weeks of and prior to "He is Risen...

I have an idea. When it's appropriate, and my daughter has "earned" a time out, I will say, "Now, honey, because of what ...

I've been wondering how Jesus felt as He walked around in His resurrected body. Because we know His story, as well as humans can know it...

It is amazing how God has set up His creation like one extended sermon illustration. The sermon is titled "He is Risen." And maybe...

Think of how it looked that day. There was the Roman soldier who, when it was all done, said, "Surely, this was a righteous man." ...

I've been sick in a minor way for a few days longer than I want to be, which helps me identify with and pray for those in our congregati...

Honor is an underrated power within ourselves and our world. Earlier generations had role models, both authentic and bogus, for honor. Movie...

Church is a who, a what, a when, a where, and why, and a how. Who = Us in Christ glorifying God the Father together through the Holy Spiri...

All of us struggle with the positions we've taken that, over time, appear to be wrong or off. We don't want to be wrong or be seen a...

The obvious daily lesson of the Cross is that you have to give up something good to get something better. Even today, each of us faces at le...

The best way to first approach this question is to ask its opposite. What does it not mean? We don't do for ourselves ANYTHING that Jesu...

We saw Rango in the theater on Monday. It's an animated film, well reviewed: perfect family fare we thought. Wrong. First of all, pay at...

There are two sides to every complaint. There is the complainer and the complained-to or complained-about or complained-against. Pastors get...

I know more people who face loneliness on a daily basis than I've ever known. Chronic loneliness presents many challenges. I remind such...

It is Sunday again. Don't miss the opportunity to worship God in sacred assembly with other imperfect believers. You may not get another...

Crossless, Christless ministry sounds like a pretty bad label, but it represents some of what passes for ministry in churches. It's not ...

Many of us have alarm systems in our homes. They're good for keeping bad people from getting in, but also good in case a child starts to...

We can read that he isn't an official "saint." We're not sure what he had to do with snakes leaving Ireland. Wearing green...

Maybe you heard the story. In the year 300 and something, the Roman emperor Constantine, a "kind of" convert to Christ over the co...

Talking about it can be awkward. It sounds backwards. Some of us have experienced religiously abusive, position-hungry people who use "...

Dieting represents what is wrong with this world. I bet that Muammar Gaddafi and Charlie Sheen were both just on diets. Now look at them! S...

Sundays don't count as part of the 40 days of Lent. Check back tomorrow. Today is a day for open Bibles, honest prayers, heartfelt songs...

Shannon, my wife, is with her friend, Leslie Haskin, to speak at a women's retreat in San Luis Obispo, CA. She's in a hotel that ove...

You may cringe at this blog's title; there's not one cozy word in it. It represents, however, a theological priority. If people clai...

Many in our community at Goodwill Church know that yesterday I attended the funeral for a friend and preschool classmate of my daughter, Kel...

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." It's not in the Bible. It's from the funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer. We repe...

For large tracts of Western Christianity the cross is out. How gauche it is. How primitive and backwards, many say. We, Goodwill Church, are...