http://www.hope-crc.org Hope CRC Podcasts en Hope CRC Podcasts Hope CRC no Hope CRC chris@cultivatestudios.com ℗ & © 2012 Hope CRC 720 Jefferson Bethke posted a spoken word, poem, rap thing on You-Tube. There is nothing special about the video. It features Jefferson, a pleasant looking twenty-two year old, standing in front of an old building, clean bold text pops once in a while, there is a sort of haunting choir techno beat going on underneath…. and Jefferson performs his poem. But, this little video went viral and in the space of three weeks there have been over 17 million viewers. The poem is entitled, "Why I hate Religion, but love Jesus." Here is a snippet: They can't fix their problems, and so they just mask it Not realizing religion’s like spraying perfume on a casket. http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/love-trumps-knowledge Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:11:53 GMT Roger Nelson Jefferson Bethke posted a spoken word, poem, rap thing on You-Tube. There is nothing special about the video. It features Jefferson, a pleasant looking twenty-two year old, standing in front of an old building, clean bold text pops once in a while, ... Harold Egbert Camping grew up in a Christian Reformed Church in California and was part of the CRC until he was in his late sixties. He was a civil engineer by training but he is made his mark in radio. In the late 1950's Camping and few friends bought a radio station and began to build a network of over 150 radio stations all across North America. Camping hosted a live weeknight program. Listeners would call in with questions about life, marriage, sexual morality, etc, or to inquire about the meaning of particular passages of scripture. Camping gave the answers. Camping became a kind of Bible-answer-man. http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/recalibrate Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:41:21 GMT Roger Nelson Harold Egbert Camping grew up in a Christian Reformed Church in California and was part of the CRC until he was in his late sixties. He was a civil engineer by training but he is made his mark in radio. In the late 1950's Camping and few ... I was at a retreat in the hard scramble hills of Texas. The food was tasty, the running trails were challenging, and the conversation with friends was lively. The retreat included small group meetings, large group worship, and times of prayerful introspection. Toward the end of the retreat we were sent off on our own. I don't remember the particular purpose or instructions, but I know we were supposed to do some manner of personal reflection and then meet with other retreat participants to share….. http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/a-somatic-spirituality Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:35:54 GMT Roger Nelson I was at a retreat in the hard scramble hills of Texas. The food was tasty, the running trails were challenging, and the conversation with friends was lively. The retreat included small group meetings, large group worship, and times of prayerful ... At a research lab in Switzerland, to a standing room only crowd, scientists recently announced that they were closer to an explanation for everything. They didn't claim to have everything figured out just yet, but as one scientist put it, "I think we’re getting very close. We may be getting the first tantalizing hints, but it is a whiff, it is a smell, it’s not the quite the whole thing." http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/particles-of-god Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:28:59 GMT Roger Nelson At a research lab in Switzerland, to a standing room only crowd, scientists recently announced that they were closer to an explanation for everything. They didn't claim to have everything figured out just yet, but as one scientist put it, ... Country music singer Miranda Lambert sings my wife’s current favorite song. I know it gets played a lot at our house. The song is about a young woman going back to the house in which she grew up and asking the current owner if she could just come in and look around and remember who she is. Listen to these lyrics: http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/building-houses Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:24:53 GMT Roger Nelson Country music singer Miranda Lambert sings my wife’s current favorite song. I know it gets played a lot at our house. The song is about a young woman going back to the house in which she grew up and asking the current owner if she could just come ... When Herman Cain suspended his campaign for the presidency he mounted a stage at a political rally and delivered a fiery defiant speech. He tossed out zingy one liners and railed against the dirty dealings of politics. He attacked the usual suspects and then he quoted Pokemon ~ that Japanese video-game-cartoon-trading card-manga-anime-movie merchandising empire. He said, quoting Pokemon: http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/taking-up-the-text Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:34:10 GMT Roger Nelson When Herman Cain suspended his campaign for the presidency he mounted a stage at a political rally and delivered a fiery defiant speech. He tossed out zingy one liners and railed against the dirty dealings of politics. He attacked the usual suspects ... The advent of crack cocaine in the mid 1980s ravaged the south side of Chicago. At the same time, during the Reagan Revolution for smaller government, most of the state run mental hospitals were closed up. In turn, mentally ill patients, with nowhere else to turn, were turned loose on the streets. In the mid 1980s those two realities converged and there was a dramatic rise in the number of men who were dislocated, at loose ends, and living on the streets of the south side. http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/comfort-in-concrete Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:40:53 GMT Roger Nelson The advent of crack cocaine in the mid 1980s ravaged the south side of Chicago. At the same time, during the Reagan Revolution for smaller government, most of the state run mental hospitals were closed up. In turn, mentally ill patients, with nowhere ... Note: I am indebted to a sermon by John Buchanan at Fourth Presbyterian for a couple ideas and illustrations. Anne Lamott in Traveling Mercies retells a familiar story this way: I was remembering an old story the other day about a man getting drunk at a bar in Alaska. He's telling the bartender how he recently lost whatever faith he’d had after his twin engine plane crashed in the tundra. http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/imagination-and-expectation Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:15:54 GMT Roger Nelson Note: I am indebted to a sermon by John Buchanan at Fourth Presbyterian for a couple ideas and illustrations. Anne Lamott in Traveling Mercies retells a familiar story this way: I was remembering an old story the other day about a man ... Two intriguing books have been floating around on best seller lists: 90 Minutes in Heaven and 23 Minutes in Hell. Each are afterlife stories. One man died and spent 90 minutes in heaven and then came back to tell what he experienced. The other spent 23 minutes in hell and came back to tell what he experienced. One is greeted by beautiful music, those who influenced him spiritually, and he feels true peace. One sees searing flames, smells a putrid rotting stench, hears deafening screams of agony, is terrorized by demons, and feels total isolation. One got a glimpse of eternal life; the other, eternal punishment. One was a sheep and one was a goat. http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/a-question-of-eye-sight Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:31:58 GMT Roger Nelson Two intriguing books have been floating around on best seller lists: 90 Minutes in Heaven and 23 Minutes in Hell. Each are afterlife stories. One man died and spent 90 minutes in heaven and then came back to tell what he experienced. The other spent ... Toward the end of Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is wandering across New York City. He is unsettled with life and with self. He is riding a wave of adolescent dissatisfaction and exasperation. Everything is lame, inauthentic, and a vacuous façade. Then there is this vignette: http://www.hope-crc.org/sermon/faith-forming-faith Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:26:11 GMT Roger Nelson Toward the end of Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is wandering across New York City. He is unsettled with life and with self. He is riding a wave of adolescent dissatisfaction and exasperation. Everything is lame, inauthentic, and a vacuous ...