These are essays from the Real Live Preacher blog. 2002-2010

Even the rich woman

A Dramatized Version of a Bible Story No one hated rich people more than Judas. Seriously, he hated them. Judas said the problems our people were having could be traced back to all sorts of abuses by the establishment and the powerful people who were in charge of things. He hated the professional priests and…

Forget the Angles

I have a preacher friend who lives in an old farmhouse that he is restoring himself. He’s one of those “do everything” guys. Gardening, carpentry, repair work, he does it all. Robert is not a bullshit, pantywaist, white-collar preacher with soft theology and a degree in marketing. His faith and knowledge are deep and wide.…

James, John, & Crazy Joe

It happened in one of those quiet moments when nothing much was going on. Peter whistled while he mended a net. Bartholomew picked at his sandal. The other guys were talking in small groups. Jesus was sitting apart, looking north up the Jordan River. He was wondering about the man who used to live in…

The richest man in town

Delivered as a sermon at Sage Chapel, Cornell University, April 9th, 2006 Jesus of Nazareth was in town, and the word spread quickly. Whispers moved through the marketplace and were carried on the winds of gossip and rumor. The exciting young rabbi from Galilee was in Judea, and not only in Judea but in their…

Crocodile Hunter

When I first came to know Jonah and Robert, I was very eager to please. They were my first real wheelchair friends. When I was with them my personality took on a quality not unlike that of the Crocodile Hunter on TV. Every request was met with a boisterous “Absolutely.” I hovered over them with…

The Smallest Person in All the World

This story originally appeared at RealLivePreacher.com in two parts. Part One: The Rabbi, the Woman, and the Cities The Rabbi (Twenty Years Before) Jesus, son of Joseph, what would you do if you met the smallest person in the world? The smallest, Rabbi? Yes, the person who matters the least. The person with absolutely no…

The George Stories

These three stories were posted in this order in January of 2003 at Real Live Preacher. This was VERY early in my RLP adventure. Just a little over thirty days after my first blog post. George the Middle If I told you the story of how dope-smoking George became a Christian while eating a sandwich…

A Religion of Denial

Originally posted in 2006 at RLP Back in the early 90s, a man named John was a member of our church. He was a professional man, with a wife and two sons. Sam was in high school, and Teddy was in middle school. Both boys played football. His wife Allison was beautiful and very involved…

Seeing Gravity

For a brief period of time in 2001 I started seeing gravity, and my world turned into a slapstick comedy. It began when a woman dropped a book. The book flew out of her hand and smashed into the floor with a loud bang. For some reason, this didn’t look right to me. Objects at…

The Raccoon Stories

In 2004 I had raccoon troubles. I wrote about them in a series of stories. Mind you, I didn’t put a lot of effort into these, so I have no idea if they proceed in logical ways or how the writing sounds. I have not read them again and won’t, lest I get sucked into…