Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church

If you step off one of the restricted elevators onto the executive suite level of Under Armour you’re greeted by a young person, mid-twenties, I’d guess. Behind her reception desk below the giant Under Armour logo are three words written in proprietary font – “Powerful. Young. Aggressive.” Under Armour, like most successful organizations, pays a … Continue reading The Culture of Jesus

What’s God’s problem with Babel? After all the mistakes that human beings have been through in the first ten chapters of Genesis here they seem to have finally gotten it together. After trying to become like God by eating the fruit, Cain killing his brother Abel, violence and evil spreading across the earth, the flood … Continue reading Pentecostal Hearing

Superman II has not aged well. I don’t believe this is a very controversial statement. If you disagree with me, then I need to ask, “When was the last time you watched Superman II?” If your answer has anything to do with a VHS cassette then I rest my case. It’s funny, though. The special … Continue reading It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane!

There’s two things that jump out at me from the Gospel of John. One is that it insists, very loudly, that Jesus Christ is God. He wasn’t just a good guy, or a great teacher, or a mighty prophet. Jesus was, and is, God, and the Gospel comes out swinging on this point from the first verse. Say … Continue reading On Missing the Point

Peter’s got to be one of the worst theologians ever produced by the church. After breaking the rules and eating with a Gentile all he can come up with is “The Spirit told me to do it.” He doesn’t quote any biblical text. He doesn’t make any solid theological argument. He doesn’t appeal to humanitarian … Continue reading The Spirit Made Me Do It

First of all, who names their kid Dorcas? I’m only asking the question because everyone that I’ve told “I’m preaching on Dorcas” has snickered. It’s impossible to know how many people were named Dorcas in Peter’s time, but there are only about 22-26 newborns named “Dorcas” each year in the US. Nobody in MD has … Continue reading Dorcas

There is an individual in the Yale Facebook group that, at first glance, I did not believe was a real person. I’ll call him Eli, and he stood out to me because in one of the earliest posts he shared his music taste and it was very similar to mine. However, I soon realized that … Continue reading Convers(at)ions

You probably don’t know this, but they’re movies that I really, really, really, love. They’re called Star Wars,  and I swear to you,  it relates to my sermon.  In Episode One,   Anakin Skywalker has just been freed from slavery,  he’s really excited to become a Jedi. However,  he is devastated when he realizes,  his … Continue reading The Power of Change

The twentieth chapter of John begins with a locked room. It’s dark outside. The curtains are drawn. The lights are down low. John says they were hiding away from the mob that had demanded Jesus’ death, but of course it was bigger than that. It’s easy to forget that Easter was not a triumphant moment … Continue reading The Architecture of Doubt

The first people to disbelieve the resurrection are some of Jesus’ closest followers. The women who go to the tomb, those without official titles, have experienced hope but the rest of Jesus’ followers are still wallowing in their loss. It’s kind of familiar given where the church is today losing members, losing clout, losing its … Continue reading Hints of Resurrection