Author: Rob Gieselmann

“What does God do with all them prayers? Whacky? Goofy? Does he think of us, too much smokin’ you-know-what?”

“I am aware that I am arguing with Jesus, but he’s a rabbi and can handle it. The pastor in me answers the theodicy question differently from Jesus. We live in a broken world that contains evil like the oceans contain water.”

“You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

“The tentacles of my world, my lived ethic, my choices, reach deeply into those living in my sphere – my family, friends, church, the nation and the world. And vice versa.”

“Jesus spent his power on everybody. In his typically inclusive fashion, Luke reports that Jesus healed all who were sick.  Not just some, but all.”

“We all know that human-related weather and climate issues are real. The California drought did not end; it moved to Germany.”

“My father’s words come to mind. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. If a resolution is worth making, it is worth making today.  Why wait until New Year’s? Or Lent, for that matter. Begin again again. Today is the day of salvation.”

“Worship is expressed by the heart turned upward, but also by the life changed and committed to justice, by the way we treat others, our willingness to forgive, our desire to give.”

“The cross, does it symbolize death or life?  Defeat or victory? And as I grow older and draw closer to my own death, I wonder, whose cross is it, anyway?”

“I am convinced that God cares far less about any particular position I hold than she does about the way I engage the people around me.”