Tag Archives: religion

Preaching the News (NOT)

Posted on March 1, 2019 by tmrichmond3

  In my previous post I confessed my addiction to the news. Throughout my day I keep up with national and international events, from a variety of sources. I talked about how the news helps form my prayers, and my … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, Current Events, Karl Barth, Musings, News, Preaching, religion and politics, Social Ministry, Spiritual Growth, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Total Depravity and Redemption

Posted on February 23, 2019 by tmrichmond3

I have a Facebook friend who regularly posts about the inner peace he finds by avoiding the news like a plague. He has a kind of evangelical fervor about it (you too can enjoy this serenity, and all you have … Continue reading →

Posted in A River Runs Through It, Compassion, Current Events, Evil, Growth, Hope, ministry, News, Social Justice, Social Ministry, Spiritual Growth, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spiritual Politics and other Rare Breeds

Posted on January 2, 2019 by tmrichmond3

  Writing almost 50 years ago, Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk in Kentucky, wrote about what he called political principles spiritualized by the Gospel. In his book Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, Merton’s reflections on society at large, he starts … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Compassion, Hope, Musings, Poor, religion and politics, Social Justice, Social Ministry, Uncategorized, Virtue, Wealth | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Silent Night

Posted on December 29, 2018 by tmrichmond3

The First Silent Night On Christmas Eve, 1818, in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, the members of the Catholic church gathered for the Christmas Eve mass. The priest, Joseph Mohr, had just recently come to the church. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Advent Carol, Advent Sermon, Christmas, Christmas Carol, Christmas Eve, Hope, Incarnation, Jesus, Peace, Preaching, Silent Night, Spiritual Growth, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Posted on December 29, 2018 by tmrichmond3

In 1865, after the civil war, after Lincoln’s tragic death, a Philadelphia Episcopalian priest visited the Holy Land. While he was there he took a horseback ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, so he could attend Christmas Eve … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Advent Carol, Advent Sermon, Christmas, Christmas Carol, Church, Incarnation, Jesus, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Preaching, Sermons, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mighty Mites

Posted on November 13, 2018 by tmrichmond3

  Lucifer vs. Tit for Tat During the Cuban missile crisis in the early 1960s, social scientists were working on how to respond to the nuclear threat in ways that would stop either side from blowing up the world. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, Community, Compassion, Courage, forgiveness, Jesus, ministry, Mission, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, Sermons, Social Justice, Social Ministry, spirituality, Theology, Wealth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Let Us Now Praise Famous Pastors: Eugene Peterson

Posted on October 24, 2018 by tmrichmond3

To avoid being swept along by the winds of change and conducting a ministry which is mostly improvisation, one must stubbornly one’s heels into the ground.                    —Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Care More than once I have told people … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Eugene Peterson, ministry, Musings, Pastoral Ministry, Wendell Berry | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Leading From Below

Posted on October 22, 2018 by tmrichmond3

  An old friend of mine, Joe Moran, took his son to a Catholic worship service when he was visiting his family in New York State. Joe was a former priest, and his family was very Catholic. After Joe left … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, ministry, Mission, Preaching, Presbyterian, religion and politics, Sermons, Spiritual Growth, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If I Only Had a Brain

Posted on August 6, 2018 by tmrichmond3

Third in a series of sermons on the Wizard of Oz. This week we are looking at the Scarecrow, and the need to be thinking Christians.   I was a young Christian, trying to figure things out, and I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, Intelligence, ministry, Musings, Preaching, Sermons, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Wizard of Oz, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Leaving Kansas

Posted on July 30, 2018 by tmrichmond3

TEXTS: Isaiah 6:-1-8, Matthew 5:1-11 Dorothy and Kansas In the late 1990s Alaska Airlines ran an ad that showed a beautiful scene in Alaska, tagged with the words, “When you’ve seen Alaska the rest of the country looks like Kansas.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Beatitudes, C. S. Lewis, ministry, Preaching, Sermons, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Wizard of Oz, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment