The noted preacher Fred Craddock once observed that there are two kinds of sermons that are difficult to hear: bad sermons and good sermons. Bad sermons are hard to listen to because the preacher has nothing to say. A good sermon is hard to hear because it gets under your skin and bothers you. Sometimes we preachers even aim for this, and it can be disappointing when people say, “I really enjoyed that sermon, Father!” We want to reply, “Well, I was actually hoping you’d be

Not long ago, Huston Smith was speaking to a group at a university. As he strolled through all of the world's major religions, he cited aspects of each religion that made it unique. When he spoke of Islam, he noted the way that faith penetrates every aspect of life, and the way Muslims pray. With respect to Judaism, he admired the Jewish people’s identity and story maintained for thousands of years. When he came to Christianity, Smith chose Forgiveness. The forgiveness Jes

In some segments of the Christian church, “Matthew 18” has become rather like “Miranda Rights.” When dealing with a seemingly recalcitrant sinner in the church, people’s first line of response is something like, “Well, did you ‘Matthew 18’ him? Did you give him the treatment, follow the rules, read him his rights as Jesus laid them out?” Reading this passage from the Gospel of Matthew it strikes me that Jesus never intended his words to be taken as a “pastoral police proced