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Picture of the Garden Tomb, believed to be the empty tomb of Jesus, from Visit Israel website. Remember the old science fair project - a paper mache volcano that erupted, thanks to the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar? My newer favorite is dumping Mentos candies into a two liter of Diet Coke. If you use a 1/2-inch diameter PVC pipe inserted into the opening of the Diet Coke bottle, you can dump in a whole package of Mentos and get a gusher that reaches pretty

Have you seen Tilly Norwood's latest music video? Tilly debuted in July 2025 in a short comedy clip, and since then she has set the world on fire. It isn't her talent that has people talking - it is her identity. Tilly is a fully Artificial Intelligence generated avatar (woman? celebrity?). Tilly Norwood, AI character created in 2025 It is really kind of creepy to think about how AI can be used to create such deep fakes that we may not be able to tell an AI avatar from a fles

The Shroud of Turin, by Vanessa Horabuena The Shroud of Turin has long fascinated me. Claimed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, the shroud has been the focus of radiocarbon dating, bloodstain analysis, and forensic textile analysis, with varying results. (For more information, go to New Findings Reinforce the Authenticity Debate of the Turin Shroud , The Shroud of Turin: New Scientific Evidence Builds the Strongest Case Yet for Authenticity - Theology in Five .) Is it p

Seeing is believing, although the popularity of social media filters should lead us to question much of what we see! We live in an age of creeping doubt - people are simply less inclined to believe in anything they can't put their hands on. Jesus had a friend like this. His name was Thomas. Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them following his resurrection, so he was having trouble believing. John 20:24-25, NLT "One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nick

Lent is known as a time to give up things. I have friends who are giving up social media, beer, saying unkind things, and sugar. I tried giving up coffee once; I may have made it one whole week. Rather than asking you to give up something, we are offering you something - come get a free cup of coffee from our coffee bar and get a free plate of breakfast goodness! Not only is this a great way to start your day, but it is also a wonderful low-key way to meet people in a "non-ch

Deus Vult - God wills it. In the ancient traditions of Ash Wednesday, we slow down and make space to listen for God. We consider our mortality, our fragility, and our sinfulness. We consider our great and deep need for God. The Latin phrase Deus Vult means "God wills it." The phrase has a complex history. Some say it started in the Crusades, as Christian crusaders fought against Muslim rule in the Holy Land. Some Christian groups have used it to prove God's support for milita

There is a great deal written about Ash Wednesday. What is it? Should Christians observe it? The practice of wearing ashes is connected in scripture to mourning. People in the Old Testament wore ashes to demonstrate their grief over sin or their repentance of sin. When Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh that God had seen their sin and was going to destroy them for their sin, the people (including their king, by the way) responded to this message by repenting, fasting, an

Without the resurrection, our traditions are meaningless. Did the resurrection of Jesus actually happen? This is not only an interesting question, but it is the question above all questions. After all, if Jesus did not resurrect from the dead, then all that we do is meaningless. The apostle Paul dealt with this question, too, so it is not a new question. Here is what Paul says. 1 Corinthians 15:12-14,16-19 "But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that things aren't so great in our world. Movies, music, and social media are full of content that seems to go further off the rails all the time. It can be overwhelming as we try to navigate a culture that seems to have gone mad. Up is down, down is up, right is wrong, and wrong must be tolerated. Some 600 years before Jesus was born people were living in a land ruled by godless and ruthless rulers, but the prophet Isaiah pulled the

Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for many of us - the game, the commercials, a half-time show we either love or hate. But for our church, Super Bowl is a reason to gather, eat some of the greatest chili in the county, and raise money to help our community. Sunday Feb. 8, we will begin serving chili at 1 pm. Here's how it works: You can enter a pot of your favorite chili for free, or you can simply come and sample any or all of the entries. We will vote for our favorite entry (e

Sundays matter. They do. It is when we gather to worship, pray, and spend time hearing what scripture says about the important things in life.   But Mondays matter, too   This is when we take what we read and heard on Sunday and live it out in our homes, relationships, and communities. It is when we put our feet to the gospel and run with it.   Yesterday was difficult. It was difficult because of the snow, ice, and cold temperatures. It was difficult because we could not gath

We've all experienced times when we needed a rescue. It could have been a flat tire, or perhaps your paycheck didn't make it to the end of the pay period, or it could have been even more serious. We tend to look at the bible and think, "Wow, I can't live up to the men and women in that book. I'm just ordinary me, with ordinary problems." Think again. The bible is full of the accounts of people who found themselves in messes - we'll call them pits - and needed help getting out