Entries by Jen Olson

Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of Armies!

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Trivia question:  What do the following actors all have in common?  Groucho Marx.  George Burns. Whoopi Goldberg. Morgan Freeman.  Rodney Dangerfield.  If you guessed that all these actors have portrayed God in the movies, you are correct.  I think that is significant.  The persons mentioned tend to be comedy actors.  Each of their portrayals of God made God out to be a bit quirky, a bit silly, a bit of an oddball.  In typical human and Hollywood fashion, it is an irreverent and  unserious portrayal of God.

The Spirit who Gives Breath to Bones

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Of all the stories recorded in the Bible, are there any more spectacular and spell-binding than when someone is raised from the dead?  I remember Bible history class when I was a child in school.  I remember how the stories of Jesus raising people to life really captured my attention.  I remember how intensely I listened to the stories of Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter, and raising the widow’s son in the village of Nain, and I remember listening with rapt attention as Jesus stood outside the tomb of his friend Lazarus and called, Lazarus, come forth!  And out came Lazarus alive! 

“Asking Thee to Watch and Keep”

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One of the early lessons Christian parents teach their children is how to pray.  We may take their little hands as they sit in their high chair and hold them together and teach them to say, “Thank you, Jesus, for this food.  Amen.”  Another time we teach them to pray is at bedtime.  We teach them a “nighttime” prayer. 

The Festival of our Lord’s Ascension

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44 He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

“Just As” Love

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Have you ever been thrown into a situation where you are told to do something you have never done before without anyone showing you how to do what you are supposed to do? That can be very frustrating, can’t it? It works far better when someone shows you what you are being told to do. It works far better if someone shows you how to operate the machine. It works far better if someone shows you how to hold and swing the bat.

Well-Connected!

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We are a culture that is obsessed with connections.  And most of it has to do with that little thing we carry around called a smartphone.  That phone is our connection to the world.  It is our connection to family and friends.  It is our connection to information.  It is our connection to music.  It is our connection to social media.  Because of this, we are constantly after better connections, faster connections, cheaper connections, more powerful connections.  For most of our younger people, they cannot conceive of living even one day without a wi-fi connection.

Life Lessons for Our Dear Children

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Many of you here today have heard the apostle John referred to as “the apostle of love.”  Why is John called the apostle of love?  Does that mean that the other apostles were somehow deficient where love was concerned?  Not at all!  It’s just that in the books of the Bible that John wrote, love comes up quite often.  For example, in John’s gospel he has a very interesting way of referring to himself.  Four times in his Gospel, John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

Easter Peace

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“Shalom!”  You have all heard that word.  Many of you even say it.  You recognize it as that Hebrew word that Jewish people use both to say hello and to say goodbye.  Most often the word “shalom” is translated into English with the word “peace.”  And that’s not bad.  But the word in Hebrew is more complex than that.  According to one Hebrew dictionary, “shalom” can mean all of the following:  completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, safety, health, prosperity, quiet, tranquility, contentment, security, and friendship. 

Words Worth Chiseling into Stone: “My Redeemer Lives!”

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Have you ever thought about what you want inscribed on your headstone some day? It’s not a thought we likely relish. No one really likes thinking about such a thing. If you’ve ever walked through a graveyard and looked at some of the inscriptions on headstones it’s clear many people have given it a lot of thought. Here are some of the more clever inscriptions I have heard about.