toddcast

I’m starting a series of sermons this week from the New Testament book of James. It’s a book I have always been drawn to. This short letter seems to speak to so many things I experience and struggle with day in and day out. Anger, wisdom, harsh language, prejudice, pride, and money are all topics James touches on as he leads believers into a faith that demonstrates itself through the everyday living of life. Our faith, if genuine, must make a difference in how we live and how we navigate all the complexities of being human. James begins his letter addressing one of life’s most pressing struggles - struggles itself. After a brief greeting, this is what James writes - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  (James 1:2–3, NIV) No doubt James had seen his fair share of troubles as had most followers of Christ living in a world that was not too accepting of this relativ...

With football season in full swing, I often think of my high school football days. I wasn’t very good at all but, as the saying goes, the older I get the better I was. One of my few highlights from those days was a kickoff return. You may be thinking that my story is about a game winning return but it isn’t. Actually, the return was nothing to speak of. It was how I was tackled that I remember. As I was being brought down the defender reached into my face mask and poked me in the eye. There was no serious damage but I figured this was going to give me a black eye and, sure enough, after the game when I checked it out I had the worst shiner I had ever had. And boy, was I proud! We played our games on Saturday mornings and I couldn’t wait to go to church the next day and then to school the next Monday to show off my injury. I was anxious to let everyone know that I risked my life for our high school football team (I may have been a little overdramatic). I was privileged to wear this “bad...