Rev. Zach

First Presbyterian Church – Lafayette, Louisiana August 28, 2011 – Ordinary (22A) Exodus 3:1-15 Psalm 105:23-26 Matthew 16:21-28 Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head? It’s not so bad if it’s a song you like. Somehow it seems to me that it is more likely to happen with a song I don’t like. I must admit that I take a certain pride in dropping a line or phrase from a song that will make another person continue to think about the song until it gets stuck in their head. Do you know what that’s called? Earworming. An earworm is a word or phrase intentionally planted in your mind in a way that compels your thoughts to center on a given topic. It works best when the bigger idea is simple and connected to experiences and emotions. Why, all I have do is say something like The Lord of the Dance  or AmazingGrace , and some of you will be off to the races! For me, one of the biggies is the hymn, Here I Am, Lord . I’ll admit that over the years I have had a lov...

First Presbyterian Church – Lafayette, Louisiana August 21, 2011 – Ordinary (21A) Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew 16:13-20 Aw-kward (said with high pitched first syllable) – that is the common vernacular for an uncomfortable moment. We’ve all had those moments where someone has said the wrong thing at the wrong time, stood too close to you, or just did not pick up on the social cues we all give off from time to time. You know – phrases like, “Thank you for coming by,” or “Let’s do that some time,” which of course mean, “You can go now,” and “That would be nice, but I have no intention of committing to it.” Somehow it has become commonplace within certain circles to name the elephant in the room, and the elephant’s name is – Awkward. Of course, a slightly subtler approach is to simply say, “Crickets,” indicating a silence so severely uncomfortable that you could hear crickets chirp. Then there are even those who are less subtle but more tech savvy that will play a soun...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana August 14, 2011 - Ordinary (20 A) Genesis 45:1-15 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28 Leftovers, lagniappe , crumbs - Oh my! Leftovers, lagniappe, and crumbs - these are a few of my favorite things. My children often give me the fried crumblings left in their chicken nugget boxes even before I request them. It’s not exactly heart healthy - I do confess - but sometimes the crumbs are the best part. I imagine that’s where things like cracklin’ came from. In just about every culture you find things like cracklin’ because someone has taken the leftover and made it into a main attraction. Of course, not all leftovers are created equal (see Robert Burns’ Address tae the Haggis ), and some crumbs are not pleasing to anyone. Why else would we refer to a bad day as being crumby? Maybe that’s not too common a term these days, but we all have days where the one thing we desire or feel called to is just out of reach. Sometimes I ca...

A while back I started a blog for youth at a church I served in Savannah, GA. God called me to move on before the blog had a chance to take root, but I kept it open for a while anyway. The posts were reflections on life, faith, and pop culture. Recently I closed the blog and imported those posts into this blog just to keep them. The name of the blog was I.C.O.N. and it was an acronym for: I need God. Christ died for me. Only God can save. New life starts now. In some ways it was a play on the American Idol concept. If anyone is interested, you can find them tagged as ICON Blog. Peace, Zach