Religion

As Jesus was making his final departure from his followers he said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”(Mt 28:19-20) Looking back from the 21st Century we can see that his command had a profound effect on our world. more»

Christians have been teaching basic principles that have helped people work together for the past 2000 years, but until recent decades the words “team” and “teamwork” were rarely used in the Christian context. The team concept is a powerful concept because it requires carefully defined and understood goals. more»

Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ came to earth to teach humans how to work together. In our modern world, Christians have become Christ’s Team, teaching about God’s grace and helping all people lead happy and productive lives. Christmas, a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus tends to emphasize teamwork and bring family life to a focus. more»

We live in a rapidly changing world that has resulted in an information explosion. more»

Many years ago I learned an important lesson studying electronics in the Navy. When they wanted to turn a radar antenna they had to apply an electric signal telling the antenna to turn, but it was also necessary to get an electrical feedback signal indicating how far the antenna had already turned in order to gently bring it to a stop. more»

As I was looking at the trees behind my house the other day I was reminded of the wonderful poem called “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer that I learned at a child. The first few verses go something like this: more»

I was deeply moved by a documentary on television recently about education in Afghanistan. Sitting among the other children outside because of the lack of a building for a school, a young girl said that she hoped that one day she could become a teacher. more»

I watched a documentary about World War II on television a few nights ago and even though I lived through it and participated briefly in military service near the end, it seemed almost unreal, like a dream. It is hard to believe that virtually the entire world was involved in that strange war. more»

Without a connection to God, the source of our existence, our lives are like boats without rudders in a restless sea. We live our lives with fuzzy and ever changing goals. Countless pages have been written about prayer and yet we still have much to learn. God doesn’t answer prayer in a loud baritone voice, or by email or Facebook, but in the subtle events of daily life. more»

The extensive damage and loss of life created by the recent earthquake in Haiti has reminded us again that our beautiful blue planet has awesome capabilities for supporting human life, but it is not perfect. Occasionally the solid plates forming the Earth’s crust beneath our feet need to move to relieve the stresses and that can produce catastrophic damage. more»

President Barack Obama has been struggling for some time with how to handle our involvement in Afghanistan. Should we send more forces or try to find other ways of dealing with the problem? It is a difficult decision because it has long range consequences. more»

The spiritual journey of each human being is different since it depends on their individual capabilities or spiritual gifts, education, cultural background, and religious experiences. For most people the journey receives minimal guidance through prayer and attendance at worship services. Some people, however, are able to receive additional guidance from a spiritual director. more»

It was sixteen years ago but memories linger on. Jeff Cottingham was the most kind and loving person I had ever met. His friends called him J. C. He attended Catholic mass at his church weekdays and worshiped at our Lutheran church on Sundays. He loved children and worked with juvenile delinquents in a neighboring city. J. C. more»

Humans have an insatiable desire to know everything about their celebrities. Today the birth of the child of a world leader would get massive TV coverage. Communication was fairly primitive when Jesus was born and Mary and Joseph were not world leaders or they would have acquired better accommodations in Bethlehem. more»