This week I have the honor of being invited to two different events to speak. The first invitation came over a month ago when I was invited to come speak at a youth lock-in at First Baptist Concord, NC. I’ll be there Friday night for what I’m sure will be a good time. The second invitation came last night about 11:00 for Big Coffee this Wednesday. I’m super excited about this.

 What do toothpaste, coffee, a Backstreet Boys’ song, and pillows have in common? Any guesses? Until two weeks ago I would have answered, “Nothing.” They just seem like a list of random objects you might find in a house. They are really ministry tools.

When I was a child I collected sunglasses. My favorite pair had red lenses in them. When I wore them the whole world turned red.
We all have our own frames of references. The way we see the world, church, and other people depends on the frames of reference we have on. For example, I am a 20-something, white, middle class female with a master’s degree. I see things differently than a middle aged black man. All of us see things differently because of who we are.

Yesterday I saw the coolest thing ever. To understand why my sighting was so cool I first need to set up the background. Yesterday was not the best day for me. All day I felt like I was putting out fires. I went home at the end of the day ready to chill and retreat from the world. After supper my mother informed me we had to make a run to the grocery store. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I was ready to zone out in front of the TV.

In college I worked on the residential staff. I was over a dorm for two years. Those were great times. My staff and I had some pretty crazy RA moments. A lot of those crazy moments happened before or after most of the students were on campus. I’d like to share one of those crazy moments with you now. Everyone had moved away except for five girls in my dorm and a handful of boys in another dorm. We were the only students on campus for the night.

Sunday I began preaching through the Letter of James. My first sermon in the series was entitled: “Overcoming Worthless Religion,” as in, “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless” (James 1:26). I am sorry to report the following example of “worthless religion” that emerged on my computer screen this morning.



Seems a Phoenix-area pastor has started to draw protesters to his congregation after he delivered a sermon titled, "Why I Hate Barack Obama." The “pastor” told his parishioners that he prays for President Obama's death and encouraged them to join him in praying for the president's death. "I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today," pastor Steven Anderson told MyFOXPhoenix on Sunday.



He called his message "spiritual warfare" and said he does not condone killing. Huh? 

Apparently Pastor Anderson's inflammatory message...