Posts by Brad Helmuth

Friends, I invite you to share your comments on these Afterthoughts at the bottom of this web page. I would love hear what you think! brad+ Entitlement is something that has gained attention in our culture these days. It is usually brought up when a conversation is being had about the younger generations. They are accused of being entitled. What does it mean to be entitled? Believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. The things that these generations believe they are…

Friends, I invite you to share your comments on these Afterthoughts at the bottom of this web page. I would love hear what you think! brad+ Opinions are like bellybuttons. Everybody’s got one. Some think they are entitled to theirs. To shout it from the rooftops. Wave a sign in front of your face. Disrupt a dinner. Harass you in your home. That was the experience of many an elected official and many government employees over the last few years.…

On Sunday, I spoke about resolving conflict in community. This is not easy. When you have a conflict with someone, it creates tension. We would rather have things just be easy. Not ruffle anyone’s feathers. Not rock the boat. Or poke the bear. But if there is conflict, it must be dealt with. It can’t be left to fester. Which is what unresolved conflict does. It festers and then grows and then it creates barriers. Barriers to relationship. Barriers to…

I spoke a little about Peter on Sunday morning,saying he went from “Hero to Zero.” In the Gospel reading from the previous week,Jesus is asking about who they think He is,and Peter’s response was perfect, But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father…

The Good Old Days are never as good as we imagined. As time goes on, we embellish the narrative to focus more intently on the blessings, forgetting that there is struggle that came with that blessing. The children of Israel did this. In our reading from this past Sunday, we see that they are under the leadership of a new regime. Gone is the memory of Joseph and the favored status for the Children of Israel. Now they would experience…

In April of 2015, Salahuddin Jitmoud was making one of his last deliveries for the night as a Pizza Hut delivery driver when he was stabbed to death and robbed at an apartment complex in Lexington, Kentucky. His body was later found lying in the breezeway of the complex. Eventually, a suspect, Trey Relford, was caught, tried and convicted for the crime of killing Salahuddin. Trey Relford was then sentenced to 31 years for his crime.  The father of Salahuddin,…

What we believe and what we do should match up. If I say I love my wife, believing it in my heart, Then this belief should be seen and known. By her. By others. Honestly, it should be seen by total strangers. They should know we are married by watching us. If I say it and believe it. My behavior should match. This is a truth in our journey of faith too. What we believe, what we have faith in,…

What would you do if you had an encounter with God? Like Moses, Peter, James or John from the readings this week? Like I mentioned yesterday,  I would be terrified. To be in the presence of the Divine. To experience pure Holiness. Not sure I would hold up very well. And I feel like I am in good company. When I read through the Old Testament  and see the reactions of the different people in these stories,  I can’t believe…

For the last three Sundays, the Gospel reading has Jesus, through parables, explaining what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.  On Sunday, I tried to put all of this together to help us understand and see what Jesus has been talking about. Through the different parables, Jesus tells us a little about the Kingdom of Heaven. Note, Jesus was not intending to be exhaustive in his description of the Kingdom of Heaven, just to speak about some of the important pieces.…

This week’s Gospel reading brings us face to face with an uncomfortable reminder:  Good and Evil dwell together in this world.  And this will continue to be true until God reconciles and redeems all things. Sunday, I shared about the things in our journey that are difficult for us. Things like disease, murder, aging, divorce and mental illness. Things that make us wonder why God doesn’t step in. Or why these things happen. Or why they exist. The parable from…