“The explosions of the past week in Boston raise many questions. We cannot help but look at an act of violence that was not random but a very calculated and ask, “Why?” Why would someone or some people do such a thing? Who are they? When will they be caught? While hopefully the person or […]
“Our current message series is all about 180 degree turn-a-rounds in life. Sometimes a 180° turnaround can mean a change in our thinking. We are thinking one way: maybe about a problem or a person. We think about them in a certain way and then something happens, something changes and we do a 180. We change […]
“Part of our Lenten journey this year included some clear challenges. One in particular, that will probably be remembered in Nativity lore, concerned mission and ministry. I made the comment: “You need to get up out of the pew and serve, or you need to get up out of the pew and give us your […]
“Since 2005 we have taken our celebration of Christmas to the Maryland State Fairgrounds, which happen to be here in Timonium. Last year we moved our Easter celebrations there too. We started out in a facility called the “Exhibition Hall” with about 1500 seats. Last year we moved to another building called the “Cow Palace” […]
I’m a church person. I’ve gone to church my whole life. I can tell you exactly the one Sunday I missed since my parents started bringing me to church in first grade. I was sick (although it was a self-inflicted illness). And even as I write this it still bothers me that I missed even […]
On Monday the Cardinal’s entered the Conclave just as a group of us from Nativity traveled to the “Drive Conference”, at Andy Stanley’s North Point Church in Atlanta. On Wednesday we finished up the Conference around the same time white smoke appeared above the Sistine Chapel. Interesting timing. The news, consistent with everything that has […]
Even though all is not well in the Catholic Church these days, we’ve been here before. One particularly low point came in the early 1200’s: Rome was addicted to intrigue, belabored by scandal, besieged by enemies, and plagued by intractable problems. Just about that time a young man, who desired greatly only to serve God, […]
One of the benefits of reading the Bible and different stories of the Bible over and over again is that you discover new insights that you missed the first time around. You read a familiar passage or a story you have read many times before and then suddenly something new jumps out at you. In […]
It has been a little wistful to see the final days of Pope Benedict. I, of course, did not know him, though I did meet him on several occasions. When I was a student in Rome he was already a very famous theologian who worked at the Vatican. He walked to work every day and […]
I love the story and life of Abraham. As we read in Genesis, although he is considered our father in faith, his faith is by no means perfect. At times he openly disobeys God. Other times he acts out of fear and cowardice. Another time, he tries to force things rather than wait for God […]
