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“The Peace of Pentecost” (John 14:23-31) Jesus tells his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” How can you say that, Jesus? How can you tell your disciples to be at peace? You’ve just told them that you’re going away! And now they’re supposed to be OK with that? They’re just supposed to take it easy? Come on, Jesus, get real! And how about us? Yeah, we here today. How are we supposed to...

Three Things Elitists Simply Can’t Abide While in Verona, Italy on his last “last ever” world tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road, Elton John told fans: “I’m ashamed of my country for what it has done. It’s torn people apart … I am sick to death of politicians, especially British politicians. “I am sick to death of Brexit. I am a European. I am not a stupid, colonial, imperialist English idiot.” An odd comment, that, coming from Sir Elton John.

“My Sheep Hear My Voice” (John 10:22-30) On this Good Shepherd Sunday, Jesus says to us: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is our text. “My Sheep Hear My Voice.” I should certainly hope so! But how closely are we listening? And when we hear the voice of our Shepherd, do we follow where he is leading? Today we will hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us, and by God’s grace...

“Jesus Is in the Restoration Business” (John 21:1-19) So far this Easter season we’ve heard about Jesus appearing to his disciples two times, on Easter Day and then a week later. Today we hear about a third appearance to a group of his disciples. Why does Jesus do this? Why does he manifest himself to his disciples repeatedly during these forty days from his resurrection to his ascension? The most obvious answer is to show that he is indeed alive, risen from the dead, physically, bodily. Christ’s resurrection shows that he who died on the cross now is risen from...

“Behold the Man: A God Who Rises” (John 20:1-18) Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) Behold the man who is risen, who died and now lives. His heart was stopped, but now it pulses with renewed rhythm and vigor. His blood was spilled on Golgotha, but now his veins course with a fresh supply. His lungs were stilled after that loud cry with which he breathed his last, but now the breath of life has returned. His eyes were shut in death, but now they are open and see the light of life. His hands had been...

“Behold the Man: A God Who Bleeds, a God Who Dies” (John 18:1 – 19:42) “Behold the man!” So Pilate said as Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. “Behold the man!” “Ecce homo” in the Latin. “See, I find no guilt in him.” Nevertheless, Pilate delivered Jesus over to be crucified. So now: Behold the man on the cross! This is his purpose. This is why God became man. This is why the eternal Second Person of the Trinity has taken human flesh. This is the reason. Behold the man on the cross, bleeding,...

“Behold the Man: A God Who Loves” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35) If Jesus’ incarnation teaches us anything about love, it’s that love is not the stuff of mere sentimentality. Love is more than warm fuzzy feelings. On the night when he was betrayed, the one who had all the power of God, who, as the song goes, “has the whole world in his hands,” used his hands to pick up a bowl of water, wrap himself in a towel, and scrub the dirt from the feet of his disciples. And then he gives them--and us--a new commandment: Love like this. Love...

Lessons from the Woman at the Well By Philip Cottraux By the time Israelites arrived at the Promised Land, Joseph’s descendants had grown to two large tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim would be the largest Israelite tribe in the North. When the kingdoms split, its largest city, Samaria, became the capital while Jerusalem remained capital of Judah. Sometimes in the Old Testament, “Ephraim” is used to describe Israel as a whole. But the Assyrian invasion in 722 BC would bring Israel’s magnificence to a catastrophic end. The northern territories toppled like dominos. II Kings 17:6: In the ninth year of...

“Behold the Man: A God Who Prays” (Exodus 28:1-12; Hebrews 7:20-28; John 17:1-26) “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.” Well, that must’ve been quite a sight. I wonder if the Israelites in the wilderness protested at the elaborate details and the exorbitant expense of making such vestments for Aaron. I wonder, did they have to scuttle these plans until the voters could approve the...

Several advocates are changing their stance on Daniele Watts' incendiary Facebook post: "It's like crying wolf" Civil rights leaders who initially defended Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts in her dispute with the Los Angeles Police Department are now calling on her to apologize. Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable president Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Project Islamic Hope president Najee Ali and other activists held a press conference Friday, telling reporters that they now have doubts about Watts' side of the story. "I was one that was very outspoken about it," Hutchinson said about having come to Watts' defense when her story first...

full title............................Ex-LAPD sergeant broke city rules by leaking recording of 'Django Unchained' actress, ethics group says .................... The Los Angeles Ethics Commission decided Tuesday that a former police sergeant broke city rules by leaking to reporters an audio recording from his controversial stop of an actress from “Django Unchained.” In a nod to what one commissioner described as the “extraordinary circumstances” of the case, however, the board opted in a 4-0 vote to fine now-retired Sgt. Jim Parker $500 — far less than the $10,000 maximum penalty he faced. Tuesday’s ruling caps an unusual investigation by the Ethics Commission and...

A Django Unchained actress is claiming she was 'handcuffed and detained' by police after being mistaken for a prostitute as she kissed her white husband. Daniele Watts, who played slave CoCo in the award-winning film, posted the news on her Facebook page on 2 September and said her arm was cut when she was handcuffed. Watts and her husband Brian James Lucas claim that they were kissing on a Hollywood street when police were called and they were asked to show their ID card to which Watts refused.

The Django Unchained actress who claimed she was harassed by LAPD officers who unfairly arrested her when she was making out with her boyfriend appears to have been doing a lot more than just kissing. Pictures obtained by TMZ show Daniele Watts straddling her boyfriend Brian James Lucas in his car while the couple steady themselves with their hands on the car sunroof. Eyewitness accounts suggest that Watts was grinding on top of her boyfriend with her shirt pulled up and her breasts exposed. An eyewitness who saw the couple as he worked in a nearby office told TMZ that...

Los Angeles (CNN) -- "Django Unchained" actress Daniele Watts defended her refusal to show her ID to Los Angeles police before they handcuffed her last week. The African-American actress and her white boyfriend accused police of racism for questioning them in what they said was only a public display of affection. "I believe in America and what it stands for," Watts said Monday in an interview on CNN's "New Day." Police responded to a citizen complaint that "a male white and female black were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes" outside the gate of CBS Studio Center on...

"Django Unchained" actress Daniele Watts cried out as a victim of racism this week after she was caught having sex in public. The usual Liberal media bought her story attacking the police as racists. Daniele Watts claimed she had been profiled (by police) for "kissing" her white boyfriend.THERE'S ONLY ONE PROBLEM... The facts of Daniele Watts' story don't add up.The police didn't approach Daniele because she was "kissing" her boyfriend. The police were responding to multiple complaints from locals that Daniele was having lewd sex in broad daylight for everyone to see in a car — with the car door...

At first glance, this story doesn’t look like the sort of thing which would normally catch our attention, but it really does tie in to broader issues currently under discussion nationally in terms of race relations and how the police interact with those they serve and protect. Out on the left coast, quite close to the liberal Ground Zero of Hollywood, actress Daniele Watts ran into some trouble this week. (You may remember Watts from her appearance in Django Unchained among other roles.) As Reason tells the tale, she was outdoors, hanging out with her husband and talking on the...

LAPD officer defends handcuffing, detaining actress Daniele Watts amid controversy The officer, Sgt. Jim Parker, said he didn’t expect the situation to escalate as quickly into a ‘long, drawn out drama.’ BY CHIDERAH MONDE he police officer heard on tape demanding Daniele Watts' identification after she was detained in Studio City last week with her boyfriend says there was nothing racial about the incident. Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Jim Parker told the L.A. Times on Tuesday that the "long, drawn out drama" with the actress could have been over within minutes, but instead it escalated quickly. "I figured I...

“The Truth of Christmas: The Word Became Flesh” (John 1:1-18) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This is the most wonderful good news we could ever receive! It is this central truth that makes Christmas Christmas. It’s not about toys or Santa Claus or mistletoe or even getting the family together. Those are all good things, but they’re not essential to Christmas being Christmas. Christ is--he, the Word made flesh. And that’s why we’re here this morning....

More than 50,000 people have signed a petition accusing Disney of “colonialism and robbery” after it trademarked the Swahili phrase “hakuna matata”. The expression means “no problem” in Swahili, which is spoken across east Africa and is a national language of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The petition, which calls on Disney to drop its trademark, precedes the release of the company’s motion capture remake of The Lion King next summer, which will be voiced by Beyoncé, Donald Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The phrase was popularised in 1982 by the Kenyan band Them Mushrooms, whose...

White Double KENTY, THE HUMBLE VILLAGE of Silesia which witnessed the birth of St. John, owes its celebrity entirely to him. The canonization of this holy priest, who in the fifteenth century had illustrated the university of Cracow by his virtues and science, was the last hope of expiring Poland. It took place in the year 1767. Two years earlier, it was at the request of this heroic nation that Clement XIII had issued the first decree sanctioning the celebration of the feast of the sacred Heart. When enrolling John Cantius among the saints, the magnanimous Pontiff expressed in...